A^5 

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Class _^„4^_i: 
Book^iD 



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CopightN" 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



ELEMENTS OF 



AGRICULTURE 



A TEXT BOOK FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS 



J. H. SHEPPERD 

Dean of the Agricultural Division and Professor of Agriculture in the North 
Dakota Agricultural CloUege 



J. C. MCDOWELL 

Professor of Agronomy in the North Dakota Agricultural College 



WEBB PUBLISHING COMPANY 

ST. PAUL. MINNESOTA 
5 



/ 



LIBRARY of OONGRESS 

JUL 17 1905 

^LASS a AAC. NU) 
COPY B. 






COPYRIGHT 1905 

BY 

WEBB PUBLISHING CO. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Page. 

CHAPTER I— Indian Corn 7 

CHAPTER II— Wheat 25 

CHAPTER III— Oats 42 

CHAPTER IV— Barley 49 

CHAPTER V— Rye 54 

CHAPTER VI— Emmer 57 

CHAPTER VII— Flax 58 

CHAPTER VIII— Grasses 64 

CHAPTER IX— Leguminous Plants 75 

CHAPTER X— Potatoes 80 

CHAPTER XI— Rape 86 

CHAPTER XII— Rotation of Crops 87 

CHAPTER XIII— Weeds 91 

CHAPTER XIV— Injurious Insects 104 

CHAPTER XV— Cattle 108 

CHAPTER XVI— Horses 124 

CHAPTER XVII— Sheep 136 

CHAPTER XVIII— Swine 144 

CHAPTER XIX— Plant and Animal Breeding 148 

CHAPTER XX— Feeds and Feeding 155 

CHAPTER XXI— Care and Management of Live Stock. .166 

CHAPTER XXII— Dairying 175 

CHAPTER XXIII— Poultry 183 

CHAPTER XXIV— Birds 190 

CHAPTER XXV— Fruit Culture.' 193 

CHAPTER XXVI— Protection and Ornamentation of 

Home and School Grounds 197 

CHAPTER XXVII— Care of Farm Machinery 204 

CHAPTER XXVIII— Roads 206 

CHAPTER XXIX— Soils 214 

CHAPTER XXX— Exercises 236 

CHAPTER XXXI— Corn Growing Contest 248 

CHAPTER XXXII— Legal Weights 250 

Acknowledgment 251 



PREFACE. 

There is a general movement all over the United 
States in the direction of placing Elementary Agri- 
culture in the course of study for coimtry schools. 
In order to secure a county teacher's certificate in 
Wisconsin, the applicant must pass an examination 
in elementary agriculture. The Missouri Agricul- 
tural College and the Missouri normal schools are 
carefully training teachers to present this subject 
in country schools. In South Carolina it is taught 
in the eighth and ninth grades of the common 
schools. In Nebraska the applicant for second-grade 
certificate is required to pass an examination in the 
elements of agriculture. Elementary Agriculture 
finds a place in the common-school course of study 
for the state of Illinois, and is even taught in some 
of the schools of our large cities. These instances 
suffice to show that the subject is receiving wide- 
spread attention. 

During the past few years there have been sev- 
eral excellent books written on the subject of Ele- 
mentary Agriculture for rural schools, but they are 
of necessity somewhat local in their treatment of the 
subject. Most of these books are from the east and 
south, a few from the middle west, but none from 
the northwest. As this subject has recently been 
added to the course of study for common schools in 



North Dakota, it has seemed best to prepare a book 
written specially for the northwestern states. The 
conditions of soil and climate and the methods of 
farming are so different here from what they are 
elsewhere that it is difficult to use successfully a 
book that may be well adapted to other portions of 
the country. 

In the preparation of this manual the authors 
have made an unusual arrangement of the subject- 
matter. The chief consideration relative to the 
grouping of topics has been, how can the interest of 
the student best be enlisted ? A deep interest in, and 
a thorough respect for, a class-room subject, are pre- 
requisite to success. The topics are arranged in 
nearly the same order that they are taken up in the 
course of study for the public schools of North Da- 
kota. The course of study follows the seasons ; the 
work on farm crops coming in the fall, that on do- 
mestic animals in the winter, and the work on soils 
and the beautifying of the home and school grounds 
forming a large part of the course during the spring 
months. If time permits, an occasional exercise in 
grain judging may be introduced at any time during 
the year. The assembling of the themes treated in 
this volume has been in accord with the plan which 
our experience indicates is best calculated to enlist 
the sympathy and hold the attention of the students. 
Bring forward the actual plant or animal for study, 
and it will, if the exercise is well planned and ju- 
diciously conducted, always prove attractive to the 
learner. 



CHAPTER I. 

INDIAN CORN. 

Early History. So far as known, Indian corn 
has never been found growing wild, but its native 
home was undoubtedly the semitropieal portion of 
America. Columbus mentions having seen, in the 
New World, fields of maize (Indian corn) eighteen 
miles long. Cartier, in 1535, found Indian corn 
growing near the present site of Montreal. In 1603, 
Champlain found it growing east of the Kennebec 
river. The Indians of Massachusetts were producing 
it at the time of the landing of the Pilgrims, in 1620. 
Captain John Smith tells of its being produced in 
quantity by the Indians of Virginia. As so many 
early American explorers mention Indian corn, there 
can be no doubt that it was generally grown by the 
North American Indians all the way from Montreal 
to the Isthmus of Panama. It was also grown quite 
extensively by the Indians of South America. Corn- 
cobs and charred kernels are often found in prehis- 
toric mounds, showing that Indian corn is a very old 
plant, and that it was produced in America many 
centuries before this continent was discovered by 
Europeans. 

Later History. The early settlers of the United 
States found Indian corn an easy and profitable crop 



8 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

to raise. As time passed, it gained in favor, and was 
grown more and more extensively, until today it is 
our greateist crop. The United States produces 
about three-fourths of the world's crop of corn. 
Austria-Hungary stands next in rank, while Indian 
corn is an important crop in Mexico, Argentine, 
Southern Russia, and Roumania. At present our 
greatest corn-producing states are Nebraska, Iowa, 
Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. These 
states comprise what is commonly known as the 
' ' corn belt. ' ' Corn is also grown on a large scale in 
nearly all of the northern states. Early varieties 
are being produced, some of which ripen in the 
northern portions of Minnesota, North Dakota, and 
in Western Canada. 

The Root. Being a true grass, no tap root is 
produced, but, instead, a systemi which branches out 
in all directions. Some of the roots grow down- 
ward, and often reach a depth of four feet or more, 
while others grow close to the surface. The corn 
plant obtains most of its water supply through its 
deep roots. This is especially true during very dry 
weather. When soil is well drained, the roots pene- 
trate to a greater depth than in undrained soil, thus 
enabling the crop better to withstand drouth. Land 
that is not drained is often so wet during the spring 
that all the roots remain near the surface, and reach 
their growth without going deep. At earing time, 
when dry weather most frequently occurs, the roots 
cannot make much new growth, and thus cannot 
burrow downward to reach the moisture of the sub- 



INDIAN CORN. 




Fig. 2. Mature Corn Roots, from the 
Edgeley, N. D., Substation Farm. 



10 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

soil. Deep cultivation late in the season usually 
causes a lighter yield by cutting off many roots that 
are growing near the surface to secure food and air. 
This weakens the plant and cuts off part of its sup- 
ply of food at the time when it is most needed. 

The Stem and Leaves. Under favorable condi- 
tions the stem or stalk grows very rapidly, and is 
usually quite tall when mature. The height of corn 
■varies from eighteen inches to eighteen feet, accord- 
ing to the variety, kind of soil, and climate. When 
mature, the stem has a pithy center, and the outer 
portion is hard and Avoody. Each joint of the stem 
produces a leaf. Here again we see the likeness of 
corn to other grasses, as the leaf is a characteristic 
grass leaf, long and narrow, with the veins extend- 
ing lengthwise. Cornstalks and leaves are valuable 
as roughage for feeding stock. 

The Flower. The corn plant has two kinds of 
flowers — the male flower, or tassel, and the female 
flower, or silk. The tassel grows at the tip of the 
stem and is composed of many small flowers. Each 
of these produces a large amount of pollen for fer- 
tilizing the silks. The silks grow from the cob, 
there being one to each kernel. On windy days the 
pollen is scattered to quite a distance, making it easy 
for corn to cross-fertilize, therefore two varieties 
planted side by side are likely to mix. To obtain 
a cross between two varieties of corn the pollen of 
one variety is brought into contact with the silk of 
the other. 

The Ear. The ear is the most valuable part of 



INDIAN CORN. H 

the corn plant, and it lias no superior for fattening 
stock. Sixty-three per cent, of the digestible matter 
of the corn plant is in the ear, and only thirty-seven 
per cent, in the stalk, blades, and hnsks. It requires 
seventy pounds of corn in the ear, or fifty-six pounds 
of shelled corn, to make a bushel. 

The Kernel. The kernel of corn may be divided 
into five distinct parts : The tip cap, hull, corneous 
part, starchy part, and germ. The tip cap is a small 
cap that covers the inner or tip end of the kernel. 
Its office is to protect the germ, but it is sometimes 
broken off in shelling. The hull is the very thin 
outer coat of the kernel, and may be easily removed 
after soaking the kernel in water for a few minutes. 
The corneous part is yellow in color, rich in gluten, 
and is the most valuable part of the kernel. The 
white portion, which is rich in starch, nearly sur- 
rounds the germ. The germ is found in the center 
of the tip end, and extends from one-half to two- 
thirds the length of the kernel. The germ contains 
the embryo stem, pointing toward the crown of the 
kernel, and the embryo root, pointing toward the tip. 

Plowing- for Com. The ground may be plowed 
either in the fall or spring with success. On the av- 
erage, fall plowing produces somewhat larger yields 
of both fodder and ears; but the ground must be 
given thorough cultivation before planting, to pre- 
vent weeds from starting and to decrease evapora- 
tion. 

Planting" Corn. In warm, dry soils, corn should 
be planted deeper than in those that are cold and 



12 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

heavy. The best results are usually obtained by 
planting from two to three inches deep. It seems 
advisable to plant the small varieties in hills about 
three and one-half feet apart each way, at the rate 
of four to six kernels to the hill. Growing corn in 
the manner described above leaves the soil in good 
condition for wheat or other small grain crops the 
following year. Sowed corn usually gives more 
pounds of feed per acre than corn planted in any 
other way, but it leaves the soil in poor condition 
for succeeding crops. Wait until the ground isL quite 
warm before i)lanting corn, as the seed may rot if 
planted in cold soil. 

Cultivation. Corn should be harrowed after 
planting, and it is well to harrow after it is up. Cul- 
tivate often to make and preserve a soil mulch and 
to keep down weeds. Shallow cultivation gives the 
best results, as it forms a good soil mulch, does not 
injure the roots and allows them to come close to 
the surface for food and air. A corn cultivator 
should have small shovels. 

Races of Corn. Indian corn may be divided into 
six groups or races : Pop corn, flint corn, dent corn, 
sugar or sweet corn, soft corn, and pod corn. Of 
these the dent and flint races are the ones grown gen- 
erally as a field crop throughout the northern states. 

(1) Dent Corn. The sides of the kernel consist of 
hard, translucent matter, and the center is filled 
with starch to the dent. The dent or dimple in the 
kernel is made by the shrinking of the soft starchy 
portion while the corn is ripening. In most varie- 



INDIAN CORN. 



13 



ties of dent corn the kernels are slender and wedge- 
shaped. 

(2) Flint Corn. As in dent corn, the central 
portion of the kernel is soft, white, and starchy, but 
there is a greater percentage of the outer flinty por- 
tion, which covers not only the sides, but also the 
crown of the kernel. There is no dent in the kernels, 
and they are usually as broad as long, and rounding 
and smooth over the crown. 

(3) Sweet Corn. This is sometimes called ''su- 
gar corn." Excepting the germ, the kernels are of 
a clear, horny material throughout. This is not so 
hard as the flinty portion of the kernels of other 
races. The kernels have a considerable portion of 
the starch replaced by sugar. In most varieties of 
sweet corn the kernels, when ripe, are wrinkled and 
wedged-shaped. 

(4) Pop Com. This race is characterized by 
having small ears and very small kernels. In the 
best varieties the kernels are corneous throughout, 
and b.urst open when heated. 

(5) Soft Corn. With the exception of the germ, 
the entire kernel is soft and starchy. In .shape the 
kernels resemble those of flint corn. This race is 
grown quite extensively in the southwest, but does 
not mature in the northern states. 

(6) Pod Com. In pod corn, not only does the 
husk cover the ear, but each kernel is enclosed in 
a small husk. The kernels may be either dent or 
flint. At present, this race is of value only as a 
curiosity. 



14 



ET.EMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Varieties of Dent Corn. There are a great many 
varieties of dent corn, but few of them do well where 
the summers are short. If one were to name our 
leading northern varieties of dent corn in the order 
of their maturity, placing the earliest first, it would 
perhaps be correct to say: North Dakota No. 100, 
Golden Dent, Minnesota King, Northwestern Dent, 
and Pride of the North. 

(1) North Dakota No. 100. North Dakota No. 
100 is probably the earliest variety of dent corn. It 
is the result of a selection and breeding up from Min- 
nesota King, and the description which follows for 
Minnesota King will apply very well to this variety. 




Fig. 3. Dent Corn— North Dakota No. 100. 



North Dakota No. 100 is earlier than Minnesota 
King, and leans a little more toward its flint ances- 
try. The ears of North Dakota No. 100 are a little 
smaller and of a slightly deeper yellow color than 
those of Minnesota King. 

(2) Golden Dent. This is one of the earliest va- 



INDIAN CORN. 



15 



rieties of dent corn grown in the northwest. Seed 
of it has ripened in North Dakota for the past fif- 
teen 3^ears. It is a good-yielding- variety. The 



..,»i»,l«lpi|||«MM|*it«ii 




Fig-. 4. Dent Corn— Golden Dent. 

stalks grow from five to seven feet high, and, like all 
the other varieties of dent corn mentioned, the ears 
are high enough on the stalk for the corn to be cut 
readily with the corn binder. The ears are golden 
yellow in color, from five and a half to eight inches 
long, usually twelve to sixteen rowed, and particu- 
larly well filled at the butts. The cobs are red. 

(3) Minnesota King. Minnesota King is a cross 
breed between dent and flint varieties. It yields 
Avell and is nearly as early as Golden Dent. The 
stalks are from five to seven feet high. The ears are 
from six to nine inches long, eight rowed, and have 
rather wide spaces between the rows. The kernels 
are wide, rather short for their width, and yellow in 
color. The cobs of this variety are white. 

(4) Northwestern Dent. Northwestern Dent 
yields well, and will usually ripen in the southern 



16 



ELEMENTS OP AGRICULTURE. 



part of North Dakota. The stalks are from five to 
seven feet tall, and the ears are from fourteen to 
twenty-eight inches from the ground. The ears are 



•*«»»«»H|«tl 



Mii^i: viliil Mils MP 

iilliliiliiil 



l*^*4Wfffii^£^liiii«iiiiiM 

ifi-teiSliiiSlttfiili^ 



Fig. 5. Dent Corn — Northwestern Dent. 

from six to nine inches long. The kernels have red 
sides and yellowish white crowns, and the cobs are 
white. 

(5) Pride of the North. Pride of the North is 
a yellow dent, with ears from seven to ten inches 



^0^iMiM^M 










.> 



long, 



Fig. 6. Dent Corn— Pride of the North. 

and ten to fourteen rowed. The kernels have 
a dull yellow color on the top of the crowns, which 
are deeply dented, and have a tendency to be shriv- 



INDIAN CORN. 17 

eled. The kernels are close, compact, and deep. 
They are rather thick for their width, and very 
tapering". Pride of the North has a large, red cob. 
It matures quite late, but otherwise is an excellent 
variety of corn. 

Varieties of Flint Com. Flint varieties are, on 
an average, smaller and earlier than the dent strains. 
They are generally harder to harvest by reason of 
having a large, strong shank attaching them to the 
stalk. As a rule, flint varieties have white cobs, re- 
gardless of the color of the kernels. Seven of the 
leading flint varieties of the northwest, and probably 
in the order of their earliness, are: Squaw corn, 
Will's Dakota, Gehu, Mercer, Triumph, Longfellow, 
and King Philip. 

(1) Squaw Corn. Squaw Corn is a splendid 
yielding variety, and very early. The stalks are 
from four to five feet high. The ears of Squaw Corn, 
Will's Dakota, and Gehu are so low on the stalk that 
they are difficult to harvest with the corn binder. 
All the other varieties of flint corn mentioned have 
the ears high enough for the binder. The ears of 
Squaw Corn are from seven to ten inches long, and 
the kernels white, yellow, blue, and red. 

(2) Will's Dakota. Will's Dakota is a white 
flint variety with ears seven to nine inches long, and 
usually eight rowed. The ears have a tendency to be 
large at the butt, and to taper abruptly towards the 
center. The kernels are large, and the cobs small 
and white. Will's Dakota was obtained by selecting 
and planting the white kernels of Squaw Corn. 



18 



ELEMENTS OP AGRICULTURE. 




,^mmmtM^in^t»mrrrfWTrr^f^ 



J^^^ 



rf!? ^w fmm mi' \^. v^ f\ ^Y^^ 



' Fig. 7. Flint Corn— Will's Dakota. 

(3) Gehu. Gehn is similar to Will's Dakota, 
except that the kernels are yellow. It was obtained 
by "selecting and planting the yellow kernels of 
Squaw Corn. 

(4) Mercer. Mercer flint is a good-yielding va- 
riety, and qnite early. The stalks are from five to 



WMMiimm 



wmmm^ 









Fig. 



Flint Corn — Mercer. 



seven feet high, and the ears six to nine inches long, 
and yellow in color. 

(5) Triumph. Triumph flint yields well, and is 
nearly as early as Mercer. The stalks are from five 
to six feet high. The ears are yellow, and from 
seven to ten inches long. 



INDIAN CORN. 



19 




Fig. 9. Flint Corn— Triumph. 

(6) Longfellow. Longfellow flint is a fairly 
g'ood-yielding* strain, but somewhat later than Tri- 
umph. The stalks are from five to seven feet tall, 
and the ears seven to ten inches long, and yellow 
in color. 

(7) King" Philip. King Philip is hardly early 
enough for any district in North Dakota. The stalks 
are from five to seven feet high. The ears are from 




Fig. 10. Flint Corn— King Philip. 

seven to ten inches long, eight rowed, and the ker- 
nels are copper colored. It is said that this was the 
variety of corn captured by the Puritans from the 
Indians during King Philip 's War. 

Selection of Seed Corn. After the corn is ripe, 
go into the field and select good ears from the best 
stalks, and save these for seed. The best does not 
always mean the largest. Select ears of the most 
desirable type. In the extreme northern part of the 



20 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

United States, large corn usually fails to ripen. A 
good ear is true to type, well filled at the ends, ripe, 
has deep and reasonably uniform kernels, small 
spaces between the rows, and a small cob. By se- 
lecting only the ripe ears for seed, a variety may be 
made to mature earlier. The ears may be made to 
grow higher on the stalk by selecting seed from 
plants which carry the ears high. The corn grower 
may, by means of selection, bring about other 
changes also. 

Relative Value of Butt, Center, and Tip Kernels. 
It seems to make little or no difference in the yield 
whether the seed is taken from the butt, center, or 
tip kernels. However, the tip and butt kernels are 
a little smaller than those from the middle of the 
,ear, and will cause the planter to drop unevenly. 
For this reason the small butt and tip kernels should 
be rejected in shelling seed corn. 

Preserving Seed. The best method for preserv- 
ing seed, corn is to dry it in the early fall by arti- 
ficial heat. When seed corn is thoroughly cured it 
may be hung to the rafters of some dry building. 
This will insure its keeping dry, and prevent the 
ravages of mice. Do not store seed corn above grain 
bins or live stock, or in any other place where moist 
air will surround it. 

Corn Judging. Corn is judged in much the 
same manner as live stock. Rules for judging and a 
scale of points have been worked out. Exhibits at a 
fair usually consist of ten ears each, but in school 
work a smaller number may be used. Select five 
ears of some variety of corn, and judge them ac- 
cording to the following score card: 



SCORE CARD, 

FIELD CORN. 



SCALE OF POINTS. 




NUMREROF 

Exhibit. 




1 


2 


;-i 


4 


5 


1. Earliness: cob ripe, kernels 
hard, plump, bright colored 


20. 












2. Type: uniform and true to va- 
riety characteristics 


10. 












3. Shape of Ear: slightly taper- 
ing, nearly cylindrical, true 
to type 


10. 












4. Color: conforming to variety, 
( a) kernel, (b) cob 


5. 

5. 

5. 
10. 
10. 

5. 
10. 














5. Tips: not too tapering, well 
covered, kernels uniform 


6- Butts: neither open nor swell- 
ed, shank small 


7. Kernels: true to type, not 
tapering, rows straight 


8. Length of Ear: medium for 
variety 


9. Thickness of Ear: correspond- 
ing to variety 


10. Rows Close: furrows in cob 
and space between kernels ob- 
jectionable 


11. Proportion of Corn on Ear: 
eighty-five per cent 


10. 
100 


Total 

i 



Variety Judged 

Name of Scorer. 
Date 



22 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

EXPLANATION OF POINTS. 

(1) Earliness. If the cob twists easily, the ear 
is not ripe. The kernels should not be shrunken or 
dull colored. 

(2) Type. The ears of the sample should pos- 
sess similar or like characteristics, and should be 
true to the variety which they represent. 

(3) Shape of Ear. The shape of the ear should 
conform to variety type, tapering slightly from butt 
to tip, but approaching the cylindrical. 

(4) Color. The color of the kernels should be 
true to variety, and free from mixture. White corn 
should have white cobs, and yellow corn red cobs, 
when the respective colors are characteristic of the 
variety under consideration. If the cob is off in 
color, a cut of one point shall be made, and for one 
or two mixed kernels, a cut of one point shall be 
made. Kernels missing from the ear shall be count- 
ed as mixed. Difference in shade of color, as light 
or dark, must be scored according to variety char- 
acteristics. 

(5) Tips. The tips of the ears should not be 
too tapering, and should be well filled with regular, 
uniform kernels. Where the full diameter of the 
cob is exposed, a cut of one point shall be made. 

(6) Butts. The rows of kernels should extend 
in regular order over the butt, leaving a deep im- 
pression when the shank is removed. Open and 
swelled butts are very objectionable. 

(7) Kernels. The kernels should be tapering, 
uniform in shape, size, and color, and true to the 



INDIAN CORN. 23 

variety type. The tip portion of the kernel is rich 
in protein and oil, hence has the highest feeding 
value; for this reason the tip portion should be full 
and plump. 

(8) Length of Ear. The deficiency and excess 
in length of all ears not conforming to the standard 
shall be added together, and, for every inch thus 
obtained, a cut of one point shall be made. Long 
ears are objectionable because they usually have 
poor butts and tips, and broad, shallow kernels, 
hence a low percentage of corn to cob. 

(9) Thickness of Ear. In the northern section 
the circumference of the ear should be from 5 to 5l^ 
inches. The deficiency and excess in circumference 
of all ears not conforming to the standard shall be 
added together, and for every two inches thus ob- 
tained, a cut of one point shall be made. Measure 
the circumference at one-third the distance from the 
butt to the tip of the ear. 

(10) Rows Close. There should be no furrow 
in the cob, and space between the kernels near the 
cob is very objectionable. 

(11) Proportion of Com to Ear. In determin- 
ing the proportion of corn to ear, weigh and shell 
every alternate ear in the exhibit. "Weigh the cobs 
and subtract from weight of ears. This gives weight 
of corn. Divide the weight of corn by the total 
weight of ears to get the per cent, of corn. For 
each per cent, short of standard, a cut of one point 
shall be made. 

On the Minnesota market shelled earn is graded 
as follows: 



24 ELEMENTS OP AGRICULTURE. 

MINNESOTA COMMERCIAL CORN GRADES.* 

No. 1 Yellow Corn. No. 1 Yellow Corn shall be 
sound, yellow, dry, plump, and well cleaned. 

No. 2 Yellow Com. T^o. 2 Yellow Corn shall be 
three-fourths yellow, dry, reasonably clean, but not 
plump enough for No. 1. 

No. 3 Yellow Corn. No. 3 Yellow Corn shall be 
three-fourths yellow, reasonably dry, reasonably 
clean, but not sufficiently sound for No. 2. 

No. 1 White Corn. No. 1 White Corn shall be 
sound, dry, plump, and well cleaned. 

No. 2 White Corn. No. 2 White Corn shall be 
seven-eighths white, dry, and reasonably clean, but 
not plump enough for No. 1. 

No. 3 White Corn. No. 3 White Corn shall be 
seven-eighths white corn, reasonably dry, and rea- 
sonably clean, but not sufficiently sound for No. 2. 

No. 1 Com. No. 1 Corn shall be mixed corn of 
choice quality, sound, dry, and well cleaned. 

No. 2 Com. No. 2 Corn shall be mixed corn, 
dry, reasonably clean, but not good enough for No. 1. 

No. 3 Corn. No. 3 Corn shall be mixed corn, 
reasonably dry, and reasonably clean, but not suffi- 
ciently sound for No. 2. 

No. 4 Com. No. 4 Corn shall include all corn 
not wet and not in heating condition that is unfit 
for No. 3. 

Note. No grain shall in any case be graded 
above that of the poorest quality found in that lot 
when it bears evidence of being plugged or doc- 
tored. 

♦Established by the Joint Board of Grain Appeals, Au- 
gust 31, 1904. 



CHAPTER II. 

WHEAT. 

History. Wheat has been cultivated for so long 
a time that history fails to record the facts relative 
to its domestication. It originated in the Old World, 
and was grown in Egypt more than five thousand 
years ago. The wild plant from which it was de- 
rived is not positively known, although a low-beard- 
ed grass called "wild wheat" is found in the south- 
ern part of Europe. Kernels of wheat have been 
found in the tombs of Egypt. Such kernels are 
thousands of years old, and the stories of their 
growing when planted are idle tales, as no seeds can 
retain their vitality for so long a time. 




Fig. 11. Grains of Wheat. These separate figures represent the 
various stages in the sprouting of a normal wheat grain. 
No. 1 shows the appearance of the dry grain. No. 2 shows 
that the young plant or embryo in the seed end has swelled 
after one day in the germinator. No. 3 shows a good type 
of germination after three days' growth in the seed pan,' 
showing the young stem and rootlets with root hairs. Draw- 
by H. L. Bolley. 



26 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

The Root. The kernel of wheat germinates by 
sending out one stem, and usually three roots. Be- 
ing a member of the grass family, wheat has no tap 
root. Many fine roots are soon sent out into the 
soil in. all directions, and some of these may reach 
a depth of four feet, when the plant is ripe. 

The Stem. Under favorable conditions the 
stem tillers or stools freely. The stooling or branch- 
ing takes place close to the ground, and sometimes 
several stems or culms are sent up. Cool, moist 
weather and rich soil furnish ideal conditions for 
stooling. 

The Flower. The head, when it first appears, 
contains many flowers. Each flower has three sta- 
mens and one pistil. After receiving the pollen from 
the stamens, the pistil produces the kernel. As both 
parts of the flower are enclosed in the chaff, the 
pollen dust of one blossom seldom comes in contact 
with the pistil of another flower, consequently va- 
rieties of wheat rarely cross fertilize. 

Climate and Soil. Wheat is successfully grown 
all the way from the tropical regions to the Arctic 
Circle. "Winter wheat and the soft varieties of 
spring wheat are grown extensively in the central 
and southern parts of the United States, while the 
hard varieties are mostly found in the northern and 
western states and in Canada. Durum or macaroni 
wheat withstands drouth better than most varieties, 
and produces a fairly good crop in ordinary years, 
even in the semiarid regions of the west. 

Quantity of Seed Wheat Per Acre. Results of 




Fig. 12. Root Growths of Wheat. The samples on the left and 
right of the picture grew on land which had produced wheat 
continuously for many years, and show the extremes of 
growth for the very dry season of 1900. The middle sample 
is wheat grown upon land which produced corn the previous 
season. The illustration shows the natural root growth of 
wheat in the field, and that the stem growth and yield were 
more restricted by the drouth than was the root develop- 
ment. 



28 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

seeding wheat at different rates per acre vary wide- 
ly with the season. If the soil is moist at stooling 
time, three pecks per acre may yield as well as six 
would do were the soil dry at this time. Light soils 
require heavier seeding than do reasonably heavy 
ones. At the North Dakota Experiment Station, 
five pecks of seed per acre has, up to the present 
time (1905), given the best results for Fife and Blue 
Stem. A bushel of wheat weighs sixty pounds. 

Preparation of Seed Bed. Fall plowing for 
wheat is preferred in most sections of the north- 
west. It conserves the moisture that is deep in the 
soil at the time of plowing, and allows it to take up 
more water from the melting snow in the spring. 
Ground plowed in the fall, which has become hard, 
should be cultivated with a disc harrow or some 
other implement in the spring before the grain is 
sowed. Corn ground seldom requires plowing for 
wheat, but should be cultivated until a good seed 
bed is formed. 

Wheat Rust. Wheat rust is a common and in- 
jurious disease of wheat. It consists of a very small 
fungous plant, which grows inside the wheat plant. 
Warm, moist weather is favorable for the develop- 
ment of rust. The rust plant lives on the juices of 
the wheat culm, and weakens the stalk, which causes 
it to produce kerjiels that are more or less shrunken. 
When the rust plant becomes mature, it produces 
patches of red spores or rust seeds on the surface 
of the wheat leaf or stem, and, later in the season, 
similar patches of black spores appear. It is really 



WHEAT. 29 

all one kind of rust in different stages of- develop- 
ment. The spores reproduce the rust plant just as 
kernels of wheat do the wheat plant. The wind 
carries the spores from plant to plant, and in this 
way quickly spreads the disease. There is no treat- 
ment known which will prevent rust. 

Smut. Smut is another fungus which grows 
in the wheat plant. There are two kinds, — loose 
smut and stinking smut. Loose smut is carried from 
plant to plant by the wind, and no successful meth- 
od of treatment for it is known. Stinking smut 
forms the smut balls found in wheat. Smut in 
wheat reduces the yield and lowers the grade. 
Stinking smut can be prevented by treatment with 
formaldehyde. One pint of forty per cent, formal- 
dehyde is mixed with forty-five gallons of water, the 
liquid is sprinkled over a pile of grain, and the 
grain is shoveled until all the kernels are moist. 
Each bushel of grain will take up about three- 
fourths of a gallon of the liquid. The grain will 
be dry enough to sow the following day. Seed 
wheat may be dipped in the formaldehyde solution, 
but the method is slow, less economic in the amount 
of solution required, and no more effective. 

Classification. Wheat may be classified as hard- 
and soft, spring and winter, bearded and smooth, 
macaroni or durum and bread wheat. Among the 
most successful varieties of wheat grown in the 
northwest are Scotch Fife, Blue Stem, and certain 
macaroni varieties. Scotch Fife and Blue Stem are 



30 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 



varieties of hard wheat. Macaroni, Fife, and Blue 
Stem are all spring wheats. 



^mm^mmSmmmmvm 









Fig. 13. 
TYPES OF WHEAT AND BARLEY HEADS. 
North Dakota No. 223, Kubanka (Durum) Wheat. 
197, Preston Wheat. 
236, Wellman's Fife Wheat. 



North Dakota. No 
North Dakota No. 



North Dakota No. 146, 



-., Bolton's Blue Stem Wheat. 
215, Ry sting's Fife Wheat. 
212, Glyndon 211 Fife Wheat. 
149, White Russian Wheat. 
66, Experiment Station Wheat. 
194, Advance Wheat. 
182, Polish Wheat. 
221, Defiance Wheat. 
246, Spring Club Wheat. 
25, Mandschuri Barley. 
27, French Chevalier Barley. 
19, Success Barley. 
7, Two-Rowed Mansury Barley. 
North Dakota No. 23, Dakota Silver Beardless Barley. 
North Dakota No. 21, White Hulless Barley. 

(1) Hard Wheat. The term ''hard wheat" 



North Dakota No 

North Dakota No. 

North Dakota No. 

North Dakota No. 

North Dakota No. 

North Dakota No. 

North Dakota No. 

North Dakota No. 

North Dakota No. 

North Dakota No. 

North Dakota No. 

North Dakota No. 



is 



a trade name which means wheat that is rich in 



WHEAT. 31 

gluten of good quality. Scotch Fife and Blue Stem 
are classed as hard wheat on account of the quality 
and quantity of gluten which they contain. Hard 
wheat is more in demand among millers, because it 
makes a lighter colored flour and more elastic dough 
than soft wheat. The gluten holds the particles of 
bran together, so that they are easily separated from 
the flour, leaving it nearly pure white in color. In 
soft wheat the bran is brittle, breaks up in grinding, 
and, as a consequence, becomes more or less mixed 
with the flour, to which it imparts a dark color. 

(2) Winter Wheat. Winter wheat is not com- 
monly successful in western Minnesota and the Da- 
kotas. The snow-fall is light in this region, and, 
during the average winter, wheat is not sufficiently 
protected to keep it from killing out. 

(3) Scotch Fife. It is supposed that Fife wheaf 
came to this country from Canada, to Canada from 
Scotland, and to Scotland from the interior cold 
region of Eussia. The kernel is brown or reddish 
brown in color, and contains a large percentage of 
gluten. No variety of wheat grades higher than the 
better strains of Scotch Fife. 

(4) Blue Stem or Spring Velvet Chaff. This 
taller, strong growing variety is the only real com- 
petitor of Fife wheat in this country. The chaff is 
covered with a hairlike growth, from which it gets 
the name of Velvet Chaff. The average for eight 
years' trial at the North Dakota Station gives Blue 
Stem wheat nine-tenths of a bushel more grain per 
acre than Fife, but Fife wheat averaged nearly one 



32 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

grade better than the Blue Stem strain. Blue Stem 
wheat is five or six days later than the Fife in ma- 
turing. The berry is not quite so red, and is a little 
larger. Blue Stem cannot be allowed to stand so 
long in the field after ripening as Fife, because it 
bleaches and shells more readily. 

(5) Durum, Macaroni, or Flint Wheat. Maca- 
roni wheat is used largely for making macaroni in- 
stead of flour, although during the past two years it 
has gained much in favor as a bread wheat. It was- 
recently introduced into this country from Russia, 
and it seems to be well suited to the Dakotas. The 
heads are bearded, and the kernels long and very 
light in color compared with the kernels of the Fife 
and Blue Stem varieties. In trials at the North Da- 
kota Station covering six years — 1899 to 1904, in- 
clusive — the average yield from Macaroni wheat 
was about four bushels per acre greater than that 
from the Fife and Blue Stem varieties. A good 
quality of bread can be made from Macaroni wheat 
flour, but it is slightly dark in color. Macaroni 
wheat is flinty, but on account of the nature of its 
gluten it is not classed among the hard varieties. 

Mixing" Varieties. Varieties of bread and mac- 
aroni wheat should never be mixed, as this makes 
it difficult for the miller to manufacture good flour. 
If these varieties are mixed, the price paid to the 
farmer is lower. 

Importing Seed Wheat. It has been demon- 
strated many times at the Experiment Station that, 
where the climate and soil are especially adapted to 



WHEAT. 



33 



,,%^ux4^ 




Fig. 14. Macaroni Wheat. 



34 



EI^EMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 



wheat growing-, usually nothing is gained by im- 
porting seed wheat. The North Dakota Station, in 
a series of twenty-three tests with home-grown seed, 
and with the same strain of wheat originally grown 
at this Station, but grown at the Minnesota Station 
for periods of from one to nine years, found an aver- 
age gain of two and one-half bushels per acre in 
favor of the home-grown seed. Farmers living in 





Fig. 15. Grains of Wheat. Partially injured by bad conditions 
in the bin or in the tield, show the effect in the first growth 
from the seed. In the case of bin burning and freezing and 
thawing, there are always very characteristic effects. This 
figure shows various injuries to the rootlets and stems of the 
young plants, due to freezing and thawing in the shock. 



the great wheat region of the northwest will, as a 
rule, gain little, and will often lose, by importing 
seed from the eastern or southern states. Care 
should be taken, however, to grade the seed wheat 
carefully, and to sow nothing but the best that can 
be procured. 

Wheat Judging. Several samples of wheat 
should be procured and judged according to the fol- 
lowing score card: 



WTTRAT. 35 



NORTH DAKOTA AGRICVLTVRAL COLLEGE. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGMCVLTVRE. 

STUDENTS' SCORE CARD NO. 8. 

WHEAT. 

1. Uniformity: even in size, similar in shape 10. 

2. Color: clear, bright, uniform, corresponding to va- 

riety type 10. 

3. Bran: bright, smooth, free from cracks, streaks, 

and bleaching 10. 

4. Size and plumpness of kernels: long, thick, and 

heavy 25. 

5. Weight: standard sixty pounds per bushel 10. 

6. Dockage: per cent, and nature, weight and kinds of 

dirt, weed seeds and very small kernels 15. 

7. Per cent, and kinds of damaged kernels: broken, 

smutty, musty, or bin-hurned 20. 

Total 100. 

Variety judged 

Name of student 

Date 



36 WHEAT. 

EXPLANATION OF POINTS. 

(1) Uniformity in Shape and Size. The ker- 
nels in the sample should all be similar in shape and 
be practically of the same size to* secure the full 
mark. 

(2) Color of Grain and Freedom from Mixture. 
This has reference to the bright, clear color of the 
kernel, and also refers to the per cent, of kernels 
which are of the general color of the class which is 
being scored. 

(3) Condition of Bran — Cracked, Weathered 
or Streaked. This is determined by the inspection 
of kernels in a unit sample. If cracked or weath- 
ered, the vitality of the kernel is liable to injury, 
and, if spotted or mottled, the market rating of the 
wheat is reduced. All three affect the commercial 
rating. 

(4) Size and Plumpness of Kernels. The size 
may be determined by weighing one hundred aver- 
age kernels of the particular sample, and by finding 
the length of ten average kernels laid end to end. 
The plumpness of the grain may be found by the 
inspection of kernels in a unit sample. 

(5) Weight of Grain. Wheat should weigh at 
least sixty pounds to the measured bushel, which we 
use as a standard. The relative weight is indicated 
by the chondrometer samples of the wheat being 
scored. 

(6) Per Cent, and Nature of Weed Seed, Dirt, 
and Other Foreign Material. This is to be deter- 
mined by weight of dirt, weed seed, etc., found in 
a unit sample, as, for example, one-half pound. 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 




Fig. 16. Drawing from a pliotograph, showing difference in re- 
sults obtained from different grades of seed wheat. No. 30 
was from seed which was frosted when immature. No. 401^ 
grew from No. 1 hard whea.t of same breed as Nos. 30 and 36. 
No. 36 grew from seed which had been damp in the stack. 
The bundle in each case shows the amount of grain which 
grew upon one rod of a drill row. 



38 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

(7) Per Cent, of Damaged, Smutty, or Musty- 
Grain. This is obtained by counting out five hun- 
dred to one thousand kernels and noting the num- 
ber damaged. 

Grading Wheat. The Minnesota grades given 
below are followed quite closely in grading wheat 
throughout the northwest. These grades were 
adopted August 31, 1904, by the Minnesota Board 
of Grain Appeals. 

MINxsESOTA GRADES. 

No. 1 Hard Spring Wheat. No. 1 Hard Spring 
AVheat must be sound, bright, and well cleaned, and 
must be composed mostly of hard Scotch Fife, and 
weigh not less than fifty-eight pounds to the meas- 
ured bushel. 

No. 1 Northern Spring Wheat. No. 1 Northern 
Spring Wheat must be sound and well cleaned. It 
may be composed of the hard and soft varieties of 
spring wheat, but must contain a larger proportion 
of the hard varieties, and weigh not less than fifty- 
seven pounds to the measured bushel. 

No. 2 Northern Spring Wheat. No. 2 Northern 
Spring Wheat must be sound and reasonably clean; 
this grade to include all wheat not suitable for the 
higher grades on account of smut, barley, or too 
much king heads, cockle, and oats, or any other de- 
fects, or contain not more than twenty-five per cent, 
of soft yellow wheat, and must weigh not less than 
fifty-six pounds to the measured bushel. 

No. 3 Spring Wheat. No. 3 Spring Wheat shall 



WHEAT. 39 

comprise all inferior, shrunken spring wheat, weigh- 
ing not less than fifty-four pounds to the measured 
bushel. 

No. 4 Spring Wheat. No. 4 Spring Wheat shall 
include all inferior spring wheat that is badly 
shrunken or damaged, and must weigh not less than 
forty-nine pounds to the measured bushel. 

Note. Hard, flinty wheat, of good color, con- 
taining no appreciable admixture of soft wheat, may 
be admitted into the grades of No. 2 Northern 
Spring, No. 3 Spring Wheat, and No. 4 Spring 
Wheat, provided the test weight of the same is not 
more than one pound less than the minimum test 
weight required by the existing rules for said 
grades, and provided, further, that such wheat is in 
all other respects qualified for admission into such 
grades. 

Rejected Spring Wheat. Rejected Spring 
Wheat shall include all spring wheat grown badly, 
bleached, or for any other cause unfit for No. 4 
Wheat. 

DURUM (MACARONI) WHEAT. 

No. 1 Durum. No. 1 Durum shall be bright, 
sound, and well cleaned, and be composed of Durum, 
— commonly known as Macaroni Wheat. 

No. 2 Durum. No. 2 Durum shall include wheat 
that is bleached and shrunken. 

No. 3 Durum. No. 3 Durum shall include all 
wheat that is badly bleached, smutty, or for any 
other cause unfit for No. 2. 



40 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE, 



Rejected Durum. Rejected Durum Wheat shall 
include all wheat that is very smutty, badly 
bleached, and grown, or for any cause unfit for 
No. 3. 



MIXED WHEAT. 



In case of admixture of Durum, Western, Win- 
ter, or Western White and Red Wheat with Minne- 




Fig. 17. No. 1 Sheaf of Fife Wheat. 

sota Grades of Northern Spring Wheat, or with 



WHEAT. 41 

each other, it shall be graded according to the qual- 
ity thereof, and classed as No. 1, 2, 3, etc.. Mixed 
"Wheat, with inspector's notation describing its char- 
acter. 

Note. No grain shall in any case be graded 
above that of the poorest quality found in that lot, 
when it bears evidence of being plugged or doc- 
tored. This note applies to the grading of all kinds 
of grain. 



CHAPTER III. 
OATS. 

History. Oats were not cultivated by the an- 
cient Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks, or Romans, but 
they were grown by the prehistoric inhabitants of 
Europe, and may have been cultivated for as long 
a time as wheat. 

Manner of Growth. In well-drained soil, oat 
plants usually send their roots down to a depth of 
about four feet. Being a true grass, the oat plant 
produces no long tap root, but, instead, it sends 
branching ones in all directions. The stem or culm 
stools under favorable circumstances, and several 
stems are usually produced by a single seed. The 
kernels, unlike those of wheat and rye, retain their 
hulls when threshed. 

Soil. On very rich, heavy soil, oats are almost 
sure to lodge. They do best on moist soil that is 
neither light nor very heavy, and comparatively 
rich in plant food. 

Preparation of Seed Bed. Plowing may be done 
either in the fall or spring. Fall plowing is gener- 
ally preferred, as it enables the grower to sow the 
seed earlier in the spring. Sowing early in the 
spring forces early cultivation of the soil, thus form- 
ing a surface mulch that conserves soil moisture. 



OATS. 43 

If the oat crop follows some cultivated crop, like 
corn, it is not necessary to plow at all, unless the 
soil is very compact. If oats are sowed on fall- 
plowed land, or if they follow a cultivated crop, the 
soil should be loosened with a disc, spring-tooth, or 
acme harrow as early in the spring as the ground is 
in good condition. 

Sowing. Sow about two and one-half bushels 
of seed to the acre. A less amount may do as well 
if the weather is favorable at stooling time. . The 
depth of sowing may vary from two to four inches. 
When conditions are favorable, shallow seeding is 
best, but the seed should be placed deep enough to 
be in moist soil, unless this would require seeding to 
a greater depth than four inches. If oats are sown 
deeper than four inches, they will hardly be able to 
grow up through the soil above. Better results are 
generally obtained from sowing w4th the drill than 
from using a broadcast seeder, as the drill covers 
the seed to a more nearly uniform depth. 

Cultivation. Oats may be cultivated with a 
light harrow just before coming up, and again when 
a few inches high. Such harrowing kills weeds, 
does not injure the oats, and maintains a soil mulch 
which decreases the evaporation of soil moisture. 

Climate. Oats do best in cool, moist climates. 
They do fairly well in the south where the climate 
is warm and moist, but not so well where it is warm 
and dry. Oats degenerate rapidly when grown in 
a hot climate, — they do not yield as well nor weigh 
"so much per measured bushel. By far the largest 



44 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

per cent, of oats in the United States is produced 
in the northern states. 

Diseases. Oats are often injured by rust and 
smut. There is at present no treatment for rust. 
Oat smut is of two kinds, — loose smut and covered 
smut. Both are prevented by the formaldehyde 
treatment. The treatment is the same as for wheat, 
but oats require from one and one-half to two gal- 
lons of the solution per bushel. 

Uses. Oats are the best of all grain feeds for 
horses. They are a very satisfactory feed for other 
stock, and are usually not high in price. Oatmeal 
is widely used as a food for man, especially in Scot- 
land and other European countries. Oatmeal is also 
used to quite an extent in America. 

Varieties. There is no good classification for 
oats, and many of the varieties grown differ little 
except in name. They may be classified according 
to color, as white, black, and yellow; according to 
shape of heads, as side oats, and whorled or branch- 
ing oats ; according to hulls, as common and huUess ; 
or they may be classified as spring and winter oats. 
White oats sell a little better on the market than 
either the black or yellow kinds. The yield is about 
equal for branching and side oats, while all of the* 
common strains yield much better than the hulless 
variety. Winter oats cannot be grown successfully 
north of Tennessee and Kansas. Among the varie- 
ties that yield well in the northwest the following 
may be mentioned: White Russian, Sixty Day, Se- 
lected Tartarian, Silver Mine, and Big Four. 



WHEAT. 



iiiiiiH lli*^^^^^^^^^^ 






FIG. 18. TYPES OF OATS, EMMER AND MILLET. 



No. 


1 


No. 


') 


No. 


3 


No. 


4 


No. 


5 


No. 


6 


No. 


7 


No. 


8 


No. 


9 


No. 


10 


No. 


11 


No. 


12 


No. 


13. 


No. 


14. 



North Dakota No. 
North Dakota No. 



2, Archangel Oats. 

46, Black Beauty Oats. 



North Dakota No. 60, White Wonder Oats. 



North Dakota No. 
North Dakota No. 
North Dakota No. 
North Dakota No. 
North Dakota No. 6 
North Dakota No. 



45, Silver Mine Oats. 
64, Negro Wonder Oats. 
53, Great Northern Oats. 
2, Emmer. 
, Hungarian Grass. 
9, Common Millet. 



North Dakota No. 14, Siberian Millet. 
North Dakota No. 21, German Millet. 
North Dakota No. 16. Red Voronesh Millet. 

(U. S. No. 2,796.) 
North Dakota No. 12. Broom Corn or Hog Millet. 
North Dakota No. 15, Tambor Millet. 
(U. S. No. 2,794.) 



46 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 



NORTH DAKOTA AGRICVLTURAL COLLEGE, 

DEPARTMENT OF AGMCVLTVRE. 

STUDENTS' SCORE CARD NO. 9. 
OATS. 



SCALE OF POINTS. 




Number of 
Exhibit. 




1 


2 


3 


.4 


5 


1. Uniformity: even in size, simi- 
lar in shape 


10. 
15. 
15. 


2. Color: bright, uniform, cor- 
responding to variety type, 
free from weather stains 


3. Size and Plumpness: long, 
thick, plump, corresponding 
to variety in size and shape 


4. Weight: standard 32 lbs. per 
bushel 


10. 
20. 





— 


• — 




5. Feeding Quality: per cent of 
husk to kernel, of empty husks, 
of pin oats 


6. Dockage, Per Cent and Nature: 
weight and kinds of dirt, weed 
seeds and other grain 


15. 
15. 
100 





— 










7. Per Cent and Kinds of Dam- 
aged Kernels: musty, moldy, 
bin-burned 


Total 



Variety Judged 

Name of Student. 
Date 



OATS. 47 

MINNESOTA GRADES.* 

No. 1 White Oats. No. 1 White Oats shall be 
white, dry, sweet, sound, clean, and free from other 
grain, and shall weigh not less than thirty-two 
pounds to the measured bushel. 

No. 2 White Oats. No. 2 White Oats shall be 
seven-eighths white, dry, sweet, sound, reasonably 
clean, and practically free from other grain, and 
shall weigh not less than thirty-one pounds to the 
measured bushel. 

No. 3 White Oats. No. 3 White Oats shall be 
seven-eighths white, dry, sweet, sound, reasonably 
clean, and practically free from other grain, and 
shall weigh not less than twenty-nine pounds to the 
measured bushel. 

No. 4 White Oats. No. 4 White Oats shall be 
seven-eighths white, but not sufficiently sound and 
clean for No. 3 White, and shall weigh not less than 
twenty-five pounds to the measured bushel. 

Yellow Oats. The grades of Nos. 1, 2, and 3 
Yellow Oats shall correspond with the grades of 
Nos. 1, 2, and 3 White Oats, excepting that they 
shall be of the yellow varieties. 

No. 1 Oats. No. 1 Oats shall be dry, sweet, 
sound, clean, and free from other grain, and shall 
w^eigh not less than thirty-two pounds to the meas- 
ured bushel. 

No. 2 Oats. No. 2 Oats shall be dry, sweet, 
sound, reasonably clean, and practically free from 



*Established by the Joint Board of Grain Appeals, Au- 
gust 31, 1904. 



48 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

other ^rain, and shall weigh not less than thirty- 
one pounds to the measured bushel. 

No. 3 Oats. No. 3 Oats shall be all oats that are 
merchantable and warehouseable, reasonably clean, 
and not fit for the higher grades. 

No. 1 Clipped White Oats. No. 1 Clipped White 
Oats shall be white, dry, sweet, sound, clean, and 
free from other grain, and shall weigh not less than 
forty pounds to the measured bushel. 

No. 2 Clipped Oats. No. 2 Clipped Oats shall 
be seven-eighths white, dry, sweet, sound, reason- 
ably clean, and practically free from other grain, 
and shall weigh not less than thirty-eight pounds to 
the measured bushel. 

No. 3 Clipped White Oats. No. 3 Clipped White 
Oats shall be seven-eighths white, dry, sweet, sound, 
reasonably clean, and practically free from other 
grain, and shall weigh not less than thirty-six 
pounds to the measured bushel. 

Note. No grain shall in any case be graded 
above that of the poorest quality found in that lot, 
when it bears evidence of being plugged or doc- 
tored. 



CHAPTER IV. 

BARLEY. 

History. Barley has been cultivated since pre- 
historic times. The ancient Egyptians and Romans 
cultivated barley, and among the writings of the 
Romans are found explicit directions for its best 
culture and production. Barley was the chief bread 
crop of Europe previous to the sixteenth century. 
At the present time it is one of the most widely 
distributed of cultivated plants. It is a common 
crop in the northern part of the United States and 
in western Canada. Barley is also grown extensive- 
ly along the Pacific coast. 

Manner of Growth. Barley belongs to the grass 
family. The roots are spreading, and grow to a 
depth of about four feet, although it obtains most 
of its nourishment from the surface soil. The varie- 
ties most commonly grown have hulls which cling 
closely to the kernels. A long, barbed awn or beard 
usually grows on the hull. There are stra;ins which, 
like wheat, lose their hulls in threshing. These are 
called hulless varieties. 

Climate. Barley is successfully grown in all 
climates, from Iceland and Norway to southern Cali- 
fornia. It does fairly well in a dry, hot climate. 
The young plants are easily damaged by cold, yet 



50 ELEMENTS OP AGRICULTURE. 

« 

the seed will sprout and grow with the ground 
frozen only a few inches below the roots. During 
ten years of experimental work with barley at the 
North Dakota Station, the shortest period of matur- 
ity w^as seventy-one days and the longest ninety-nine 
days. 

Soil. Barley needs a fertile soil, and is not 
likely to lodge even when the soil has been liberally 
enriched. 

Culture. The soil should be well drained and 
well prepared. Deep plowing is best. It is much 
better to manure land for the previous crop than to 
have barley follow it direct, especially when heavy 
applications are made. Barley is more sensitive 
than wheat to cold, hence it should not be sown 
quite so early. Sow at the rate of two to two and 
a half bushels per acre. Each seed may produce 
several culms or stems. Use only the largest seed 
which can be secured by careful screening. The 
Tennessee Station found the average yield, in a 
series of five years, to be ten and three-fifths bushels 
per acre in favor of large seed. It is a better weed 
fighter than wheat or oats, as it makes a very heavy 
growth of stems, and ripens earlier. 

Uses. A limited amount of barley is used in 
this country for making breakfast foods, gruels, and 
soups. In some European countries it is very gener- 
ally used as human food. Its chief use in America, 
however, is in the manufacture of beer, and for feed- 
ing animals. For making beer it must be clean, 
bright, plump, and well matured. As a stock feed 
it ranks high. 



BARLEY. 



51 



NORTH DAKOTA AGRICVLTVR.AL COLLEGE. 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

STVDENTS' SCORE CARD NO. 10. 

BARLEY. 



SCALE OF POINTS. 




Number of 
Exhibit. 




1 


2 


3 


4 


s 


1. Uniformity: even in size, simi- 
lar in shape 


IS. 












2. Color: bright, free from stains 
and weathering- 


30. 
15. 












3. Size and Plumpness: long, 
thick, plump, corresponding to 
variety in size and shape 












4. Weight: standard 48 lbs. per 
bushel 


15. 
15. 
10. 












5. Per Cent and Kind of Damaged 
Kernels: musty, moldy, or bin- 
burned 












6. Dockage, Per Cent, and Na- 
ture: dirt, weed seeds, and for- 
eign grain 












Total 


100 













Variety Judged 

Name of Studeyit. 
Date 



52 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

Classification. Barley may be classed as two^ 
rowed, four-rowed and six-rowed. It is also classi- 
fied as white hulless, black hulless, bearded, and 
beardless. The following are some of the most com- 
mon varieties : Mansury, Chevalier, Highland Chief, 
Carter, White Hiilless, and Black Hulless. 

Grading: Grade samples of barley according 
to the following rules : 

MINNESOTA GRADES.* 

No. 1 Barley. No. 1 Barley shall be plump, 
bright, clean, and free from other grain, and shall 
weigh not less than forty-eight pounds to the meas- 
ured bushel. 

No. 2 Barley. No. 2 Barley shall be sound and 
of healthy color, not plump enough for No. 1, rea- 
sonably clean, and reasonably free from other grain, 
and shall weigh not less than forty-six pounds to the 
measured bushel. 

No. 3 Barley. No. 3 Barley shall include all 
slightly shrunken and otherwise slightly damaged 
barley, not good enough for No. 2, and shall weigh 
not less than forty-four pounds to the measured 
bushel. 

No. 4 Barley. No. 4 Barley shall include all 
barley fit for malting purposes, not good enough for 
No. 3. 



♦Established by the Joint Board of Grain Appeals, Au- 
gust 31, 1904. 



BARLEY. S3 

No. 1 Feed Barley. No. 1 Feed Barley must 
test not less than forty pounds to the measured 
bushel, must be sweet and reasonably sound. 

No. 2 Feed Barley. No. 2 Feed Barley shall 
include all barley which is for any cause unfit for 
malting purposes. It may include a liberal sprink- 
ling of wheat, rye, wild oats, and seeds. 

Chevalier Barley. Nos. 1, 2, and 3 Chevalier 
Barley shall conform in all respects to the grades of 
Nos. 1, 2, and 3 Barley, except that they shall be of 
a Chevalier variety, grown in Montana, Oregon, and 
on the Pacific coast. 

No Grade. All Wheat, Barley, Oats, Rye, and 
Corn that are in a heating condition, too musty or too 
damp to be safe for warehousing, or that are badly 
bin-burnt, badly damaged, exceedingly dirty, or 
otherwise unfit for storage, shall be classed as no 
grade, with inspector's notation as to quality and 
condition. 

Note. No grain shall in any case be graded 
above that of the poorest quality found in that lot, 
when it bears evidence of being plugged or doc- 
tored. 



CHAPTER V. 
RYE. 

History. Rye is supposed to have been culti- 
vated first in the northeastern part of Europe. It 
was not grown by the ancient Egyptians or Greeks, 
and was probably not introduced into the Roman 
Empire until the beginning of the Christian era. 

Mariner of Growth. When the kernel of rye 
germinates, it sends out four temporary roots. Rye 
grows taller, and the heads are somewhat longer, 
than those of wheat. 

Climate. Rye is very hardy, and is not nearly 
so likely to winter kill as winter wheat. In spite 
of its hardy character, it often winter kills in the 
Dakotas on account of the scanty protection afforded 
by the usually light snowfall. Some success has 
been attained in the attempt to produce a hardy 
strain that will withstand the winters of the north- 
west. 

Soil. Rye is especially adapted to a light soil. 
In this respect it is a rival of buckwheat. Because 
rye grows so vigorously on comparatively light land, 
it is very valuable for green manuring. 

Sowing". In North Dakota, winter rye should 
be sown about the middle of August. Sow from one 
and one-half to two bushels of seed to the acre. 



RYE. 55 

Varieties. Hye is divided into two classes, — 
spring and winter. Winter rye is grown much more 
extensively in tlie United States than spring rye. 
So far, neither has done well in trials at the North 
Dakota Experiment Station. Spring rye has given 
light yields, due largely to a lack of stooling; and 
winter rye, because of a lack, of snow covering, has 
usually winter killed to such an extent as to make 
its production unprofitable. 

Uses. The grain is used to produce flour, as 
food for live stock, and for the production of alco- 
hol. 'Rye straw is used extensively in the manufac- 
ture of paper, baskets, boxes, mats, etc. 

Diseases. Rye is sometimes attacked by rust 
and smut, but its greatest enemy is ergot. Ergot is 
easily recognized by the appearance of the kernels 
affected. Such kernels are very large, and much 
changed in color and composition. Rye containing 
ergot is injurious to live stock. 

MINNESOTA GRADES. 

No. 1 Rye. No. 1 Rye shall be sound, plump, 
and well cleaned, and shall weigh not less than fifty- 
five pounds to the measured bushel. 

No. 2 Rye. No. 2' Rye shall be sound, reason- 
ably clean, and reasonably free from other grain, 
and shall weigh not less than fifty-two pounds to 
the measured bushel. 

No. 3 Rye. All Rye slightly damaged, slightly 
musty, or from any other cause unfit for No. 2, shall 
be graded as No. 3. 



56 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

Note. No grain shall in any case be graded 
above that of the poorest quality found in that lot, 
when it bears evidence of being plugged or doc- 
tored. 



CHAPTER VI. 

EMMER. 

In this country, emmer is commonly but erro- 
neously called "spelt." Emmer, like wheat, has 
been grown for thousands of years. It seems to 
have been introduced into this country from Rus- 
sia. Emmer is well adapted to districts which are 
too dry for the most successful wheat growing. 
The results of seven years' trial at the North Da- 
kota Experiment Station (1898 to 1904, inclusive) 
show the following average yield in pounds per 
acre from emmer, barley, oats, and wheat : 

Emmer or spelt yielded 2096 lbs. per acre. 

Barley yielded 2025 lbs. per acre. 

Oats yielded 2035 lbs. per acre. 

Wheat yielded 1733 lbs. per acre. 

Emmer is closely related to the common varie- 
ties of wheat. When threshed, its husks adhere to 
the kernel. This gives the grain a little the appear- 
ance of barley. 



CHAPTER VII. 
FLAX. 

History. The ancient Egyptians and Hebrews 
produced flax, and made linen cloth of the fiber. 
Linen wrappings are found on the Egyptian mum- 
mies. During the past hundred years, cotton cloth 
has largely displaced linen. Flax is grown exten- 
sively in Russia, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, 
and the United States. 

Manner of Growth. Flax generally grows to a 
height of from two to three feet. Blue or white 
flowers are produced in clusters at the end of the 
branches. Each seed produces a single stem, which 
may branch extensively. When sown thin, each 
plant produces many branches and a large amount 
of seed. When sown very thick, flax grows much 
taller, and the branches are produced near the top 
only. Thick seeding decreases the yield of seed, but 
improves the quality of the fiber. 

Climate and Soil. Flax succeeds in about as 
great a range of climate as wheat. It does best 
where rains are frequent. It is a very common 
practice to grow flax on new land, but any soil that 
is adapted to other cereal crops will produce flax. 
It does better on a sandy loam than on a clay loam. 
For a long time, flax has had the reputation of be- 



FLAX. 



59 



ing hard on the land. Investigators have recently 
proven that flax is no harder on soil than is wheat or 
oats. Probably the reason that flax has the reputa- 
tion of injuring the soil is because of a disease now 

known as flax wait. If 
this disease gets into the 
soil, succeeding crops of 
flax are sure to be injur- 
ed, and sometimes entire- 
ly destroyed. A crop of 
flax takes practically the 
same amount of plant 
food from the soil that a 
crop of wheat requires. 

Seeding. Prepare 
the seed bed as for wheat, 
but have it smooth. The 
seeds of flax are much 
smaller than wheat ker- 
nels, and in consequence 
may be covered too deep 
on a rough seed bed. If 
the crop is grown for seed, sow at the rate of from 
two to three pecks per acre. When fiber is desired, 
sow a fiber strain, and a larger quantity of seed per 
acre. Flax should be covered one to three inches 
deep. It is usually sown later in the spring than 
other grain crops. This gives the weeds a good 
start, unless particular care has been taken to keep 
them down until the time of seeding. A bushel of 
flaxseed weighs fifty-six pounds. 




Fig. 19. A Heavy Seed Yield 
ing Flax Plant. 



60 FLAX. 

Diseases. Flax wilt is common, and often de- 
stroys the crop. The disease is caused by wilt 
seeds or spores. Germs of the disease will live sev- 
eral years in the soil. At present, no treatment is 
known for soil that contains wilt spores. All that 
can be done is to stop growing flax on the infected 
soil for several years. By means of selection, a 
strain of flax has been developed at the North Da- 
kota Experiment Station which will grow despite 
the disease. 

Treatment of Flaxseed. Remove the light seeds 
and dirt, and apply the formaldehyde solution used 
in treating seed wheat for smut. Apply the solu- 
tion slowly and evenly, and shovel the seed con- 
stantly to prevent matting. A small force pump 
with a nozzle set to throw a misty spray is best for 
the work. One-half gallon of the solution should be 
used per bushel of flax. Do not sow on old, diseased 
flax ground, but practice rotation of crops. Flax 
is not a good weed fighter, and in consequence 
should be sown on clean land. Care should be ex- 
ercised in selecting flax for sowing to prevent weed 
seed from being included. Flaxseed on the market 
often contains false flax and mustard seed. 

Uses. The fiber of the flax plant, when proper- 
ly treated, is made into cloth known as "linen." 
The seed is sometimes used as a food for stock, but 
its greatest value is in the production of linseed 
oil. After the oil is extracted, the residue is used 
for feed, and is known as "oil meal." 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 



61 




Fig. 20. Flax Wilt. This cut illustrates 
the characteristic effects of the plant 
disease known as "flax wilt." 




x: cc— ft 



FI.AX. 63 

MINNESOTA GRADES.* 

. All flaxseed inspected shall be classed, accord- 
ing to quality and conditions, as follows: 

No. 1 Northwestern Flaxseed. Flaxseed, to 
grade No. 1 Northwestern, shall be mature, sound, 
dry, and sweet. It shall be northern grown. The 
maximum quantity of field, stack, storage, or other 
damaged seed intermixed shall not exceed twelve 
and one-half per cent. The minimum weight shall 
be fifty-one pounds to the measured bushel of com- 
mercially pure seed. 

No. 1 Flaxseed. No. 1 Flaxseed shall be north- 
ern grown, sound, dry, and free from mustiness, and 
carrying not more than twenty-five per cent, of im- 
mature or field, stack, storage, or other damaged 
flaxseed, and weighing not less than fifty pounds 
to the measured bushel of commercially pure seed. 

Rejected Flaxseed. Flaxseed that is bin-burnt, 
immature, field damaged, or musty, and yet not to a 
degree to be unfit for storage, and having a test 
weight of not less than forty-seven pounds to the 
bushel of commercially pure seed, shall be rejected. 

No Grade Flaxseed. Flaxseed that is damp, 
warm, mouldy, very musty, . or otherwise unfit for 
storage, or having a weight of less than forty-seven 
pounds to the measured bushel of commercially pure 
seed, shall be No Grade. 

Note. No grain shall in any case be graded 
above that of the poorest quality found in that lot, 
when it bears evidence of being plugged or doc- 
tored. 



♦Adopted August 31, 1904. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

GRASSES. 

TIMOTHY. 

History. Some claim that timothy is a native 
of America; others that it is a native of Europe. 
Probably it grew wild in both hemispheres. The 
name "timothy" was given to it in this country 
from the fact that Timothy Hanson, of Maryland, 
imported the seed from England. This importation 
took place about 1720. Timothy is sometimes called 
"Herd's grass," from the fact that a man named 
Herd found it growing Avild in New Hampshire, and 
began its cultivation. 

Manner of Growth. Timothy is a perennial, 
produces but one crop in a season, and furnishes 
very little aftermath. It starts to- grow rather late 
in the spring, and is not ready to cut until July. 

Climate and Soil. Timothy is not a strong 
drouth resister, so may not do well in sections where 
long drouths are frequent. It often produces a big 
crop on rich, well-drained soil, where the rainfall is 
abundant. 

Sowing". Timothy may be sown with any of the 
small grains, either in the fall or spring. Fall 
seeding is generally to be preferred, but in sections 
where fall grain is not common, it will be necessary 



GRASSES. 65 

to SOW timothy in the spring, or else by itself. If 
sown without a nurse crop, from ten to twelve 
pounds of seed per acre may be used. When grown 
for hay, it is commonly mixed with red clover. As 
timothy ripens two or three weeks later than red 
clover, the clover must be cut when overripe or the 
timothy be cut green. As the seeds are small, they 
must not be sown deep. The seed weighs forty-five 
pounds to the bushel. 

Haxvesting". To get the greatest yield of hay, 
timothy should be cut just after flowering. If not 
cut then, the stalks become woody, and a large part 
of the digestible matter is stored in the seed. Tim- 
othy hay is easily cured, and there is a great market 
demand for it. 

JUNE GRASS. 

History. June grass is indigenous to both hem- 
ispheres, and is very popular, especially in this coun- 
try. It is grown all the way from Southern Ken- 
tucky to Winnipeg, and is often called ''blue grass," 
or "Kentucky blue grass." 

Manner of Growth. June grass has under- 
ground root stocks, by means of which it spreads 
continually, and it is also propagated by means of 
seed. Ordinarily, June grass does not grow high 
enough for hay, but makes good pasture, especially 
during moist seasons. The growth is almost stopped 
during dry spells, because its comparatively short 
roots are not able to reach moisture in the lower 
soil. This grass is a great fighter, crowds out most 
other grasses, and occupies more space each year. 



65 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

In meadows it is a weed, ripening too early for other 
grasses, and yielding very little hay; but it is the 
best lawn grass we have, making a very heavy sod, 
and producing a thick growth of leaves next to the 
ground. June grass is somewhat slow in starting, 
and usually requires about three years to form a 
complete sod. 

Seeding. When sown for pasture, June grass 
is usually mixed with timothy, red top, or some of 
the clovers, which produce pasturage while the blue 
grass is getting established. The other grasses are 
killed out by June grass when it becomes well 
rooted. The yield of seed is very light, and the 
seed is rather difficult to harvest, thresh, and clean. 
Three bushels of seed are required to sow an acre. 
The seed weighs fourteen pounds per bushel, and 
usually costs from one dollar to one dollar fifty cents 
a bushel. Perhaps a mixture of blue grass and 
white clover is as good a combination for lawns as 
we have. 

Uses. June grass is the best of lawn grasses, 
makes excellent pasture, but does not yield well for 
hay. In Kentucky it is used to a great extent for 
winter as well as for summer pasture. 

RED TOP. 

Red Top grows from one to two feet high, is 
perennial, and has creeping underground stems or 
root stocks. In appearance it resembles June grass, 
but grows taller. The head, which is loose and 
branching, has a purple tinge, and has smaller and 
more numerous spikelets. There are several varie- 



GRASSES. 



67 



ties that grow wild in low, wet places in this coun- 
try. It starts rather late in the spring, blossoms 
about the same time as timothy, and produces very 
little aftermath. It yields from one to two tons of 
hay per acre. The hay is of good quality, but rather 
light for its bulk. Red Top forms a very compact 
sod, but is a little slower in occupying the entire 
soil than timothy. Two years are usually required 
for Red Top to form a well-established sod. It will 
drive timothy out after a few years if sown in a 
mixture. The sod is easily killed by plowing. This 
is a good grass to sow on very moist lands. It 
should be sown at the rate of from six to eight 
pounds per acre. The seed weighs fourteen pounds 
per bushel. 



BROME GRASS. 

History. Brome grass 
is a native to both Europe 
and Asia. In Europe it 
has been cultivated for 
more than a hundred 
years. It has been culti- 
vated more extensively in 
Russia than in other Eu- 
ropean countries. It was 
brought to this country 
from Europe, and is now 
grown quite extensively 
in the northwestern states 
and in Canada. 




Fig. 22. Typical Growth 
Brome Grass (Bromus 
Inermis.) 



68 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

Manner of Growth. Bronie grass does well in a 
dry climate, is the earliest grass to start growth in 
the spring, and continues green latest in the fall. 
It forms a very dense sod. The roots often go 
downward to a depth of five feet or more. It is 
slow in making a start, and a fair stand is often 
plowed up as worthless at the end of the first sea- 
son. After getting established, it will crowd out 
almost any other grass. * In this respect it is proba- 
bly superior to June grass. 

Soil. Brome grass will grow on almost any 
kind of soil, unless it be soil that is very deficient in 
plant food. 

Seeding'. Sowing in the spring as early as the 
land is in good condition gives good results general- 
ly. A good stand is often secured by sowing the 
seed as late as the first of August on land that has 
been cultivated during the early part of the season 
to prevent the growth of weeds and loss of moisture. 
As a rule, it is best to sow it without a nurse crop. 
On land that is inclined to drift sow about five pecks 
of oats per acre with it. Cut the oats for hay when 
they are in blossom, in order that they may not dry 
out the soil too much. The seed may be sown 
broadcast, and harrowed in with a peg-tooth har- 
row. When sown in this way, use about fifteen to 
eighteen pounds of seed to the acre. It may be 
sown with a drill, hut it will not feed evenly with- 
out help. It may be mixed with some heavy, inex- 
pensive material, and in this way be made to feed 
through; or an appliance consisting of an inch 



GRASSES. 69 

board, three inches wide, with spikes driven through 
to correspond with each cup in the seeder box, may 
be worked back and forth in the box. This causes 
the seed to feed quite evenly. Run the drill shal- 
low, — about an inch and a half to two inches deep. 
If sown evenly with a drill, probably sixteen pounds 
of seed per acre will be enough. 

First Season. The stand of grass during the 
first season usually looks very poor. Sometimes 
farmers have plowed up fields of it at the close of tlie 
first season, believing that it failed on account of 
poor seed or some other cause. It may, however, 
produce some late summer pasture during the first 
season. If weeds spring up during the first sum- 
mer, they should be mowed to prevent too much 
shading, and to keep them from ripening seed. 

Second Season. Brome grass Avill spread and 
occupy the ground in a surprising way the sec- 
ond spring, and usually produces a good crop of 
either hay or seed. Very few weeds have an op- 
portunity to grow with it during the second season. 
If the grass is cut for hay, it should be mowed just 
after the blooming stage is passed, and the heads 
have become purple. It will then make good hay 
and produce an aftermath or second growth for 
pasture. The yield for the following years will also 
be better when the grass is not allowed to ripen 
seed. The number of years it may be kept in pas- 
ture has not yet been determined. A field on the 
North Dakota Experiment Station Farm, at the end 



70 ELEMENTS OP AGRICULTURE. 

of the tenth season, continued to produce a profit- 
able amount of pasturage. 

When to Cut. If cut for seed, it should be har- 
vested as soon as the color of the heads has changed 
from purple to brown. If cut when the hull cover- 
ing the seed is purple, the seed will be light, and will 
not germinate well, and if left until the seed cover- 
ings are all brown, the loss from shelling will be 
considerable. When cut for seed, it is bound with 
the ordinary binder and shocked like grain until 
cured. 

Threshing". In threshing Brome grass, shut the 
wind off close, or much of the seed will blow over 
with the straw. Some allow only the heads of the 
bundles to be knocked off by the cylinder of the 
separator, and then cast the bundle aside. That 
plan doubtless saves some seed, but it requires a 
greater outlay of labor. The seed is run through 
a fanning mill for final cleaning. 

Breaking the Sod. If the sod is broken shallow 
as soon as the hay is taken off, and backset early 
in the fall, it will be practically dead at the time of 
backsetting, and will be in good condition for a crop 
of grain the following spring. If the grass is allow- 
ed to ripen seed before it is broken, it will be found 
more tenacious of life, and much of it will be found 
growing when backset. 

MILLET. 

History. Millet has been grown for many cen- 
turies in portions of Europe and Asia. It was one 
of the crops grown by the Lake Dwellers of Eu- 



GRASSES. 71 

rope in prehistoric times. In some countries millet 
is grown chiefly for its seed, but in the United States 
it is grown principally for hay. 

Manner of Growth. Millet is a short-season 
crop, and the early varieties may be sown very late. 
Common millet may be sown late in June in this 
latitude, and still produce a good crop of hay. Mil- 
let is a true grass, and, on account of its rank 
growth, is one of the best crops for smothering 
weeds. 

Climate. Millet may be grown in almost all 
parts of the United States. It is quite a drouth re- 
sister, which probably accounts for its being grown 
so extensively in the middle west. 

Soil. Millets are strong, rapid growers. They 
do best on a rich, porous soil, and are especially 
adapted to new breaking. The seed bed should not 
be compact, and should have a large percentage of 
humus. 

Preparation of Seed Bed. The soil should be 
in fine tilth, clean and moist. Prepare the ground 
early enough to allow the weed seeds near the sur- 
face to germinate and be killed by cultivation be- 
fore the millet is sown. This early preparation will, 
in addition to killing the weeds, warm the soil, 
conserve the moisture, and give finer tilth. This 
not only insures a larger crop, but makes millet one 
of the best uncultivated crops with which to clean 
the land of weeds. 

Sowing. Millet is very sensitive to cold, and 
should not be seeded until the ground is warm, and 



72 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

danger of long cold spells is past. It may be sown 
broadcast or with a drill, but under most conditions 
should not be sown deeper than two inches. Seed 
at the rate of about one-half bushel per acre. Heavy 
soils require more seed than light ones. 

Classification. There are many recognized va- 
rieties of millet, all of which may be grouped into 
three general classes: (1) Fox-Tail Millets, (2) 
Broom-Corn Millets, (3) Japanese Millets. 

(1) Fox-Tail Millets. There are many varie- 
ties of fox-tail millets, the most important of which 
are : Common Millet, Hungarian Grass, and Ger- 
man Millet. These three varieties are called "fox- 
tail millets" from the shape of their heads. 

— Common Millet. Of the fox-tail millets, Com- 
mon Millet is the earliest to mature, and is there- 
fore very popular where the seasons are short. The 
seeds are yellow, and a little larger than those of 
Hungarian Grass. Several stems may be produced 
from a single seed. 

— Hungarian Grass. Hungarian Grass has a 
smaller head than Common Millet, and is somewhat 
later in maturing. The seeds are mixed in color, 
some being yellow, and others dark purple. Hun- 
garian Grass, like Common Millet, produces several 
stems from one seed. 

— German Millet. German Millet usually pro- 
duces one stem from a seed, is late maturing, and 
grows taller and coarser than the other varieties of 
fox-tail millets. It is a large yielder. The seed is 
yellow, and smaller than that of Common Millet. 



GRASSES. 73 

German Millet is very popular in Texas, Oklahoma, 
and Kansas. 

— Siberian Millet. Siberian Millet is a tall, 
heavy-growing kind, which is a little less coarse than 
the German Millet, and bears a somewhat more 
slender head. The seeds are longer shaped than 
those of the other fox-tail millets, and are reddish 
yellow in color. The Siberian is a heavy-yielding 
millet, and is becoming very popular in the north- 
west. 

(2) Broom-Corn Millets. Most of the varieties 
of broom-corn millets are earlier than any of the 
fox-tail millets, and consequently may be sown very 
late. One variety of broom-corn millet, known as 
"Hog Millet," has recently become very popular in 
the Dakotas. The heads bear quite a resemblance 
to those of broom corn. 

(3) Japanese Millets. One of the best known 
varieties of Japanese Millets is the one called ''Barn- 
yard Millet." A closely related plant is the com- 
mon weed, which grows on moist, rich soils in nearly 
every part of the country, and which is called 
"Barnyard Grass." Barnyard Millet yields a large 
amount of hay, which is rather coarse in quality. 

Feeding Value. Millet seed is grown in South 
Europe, parts of Asia, and in Africa, for human food. 
It resembles oats in the food elements which it con- 
tains. Ground millet seed, when cooked and mixed 
with raw cornmeal in the proportion of two pounds 
of dry millet seed to one pound of the cornmeal, 
forms a good fattening ration for hogs. Millet hay 



74 ELEMENTS OP AGRICULTURE. 

is not a suitable feed as an exclusive hay ration for 
horses, but it gives good results as rough food for 
cattle and sheep. 

Effect in Rotation. A change from small grain 
to millet gives the best results of any change re- 
corded in a twelve-year trial at the North Dakota 
Station, except when a cultivated crop was intro- 
duced. 



CHAPTER IX. 

LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 

Manner of Growth. The leguminous class in- 
cludes all plants whose seeds grow in legumes. By 
the aid of bacteria growing in nodules on their roots, 
they have the power to make use of the free nitro- 
gen of the air contained in the soil spaces. This 
makes it possible for legumes to grow vigorously on 
soil that is poor in nitrogen compounds, if it is rich 
in other plant foods. In order to use atmospheric 
nitrogen, however, it is necessary that the soil shall 
contain the right kind of bacteria. If nitrogen fix- 
ing bacteria are not present in the soil, the legumes 
use up the nitrogen of the soil in the same manner as 
any other crop. 

The Common Legumes. The following are the 
legumes commonly grown on the farm: Common 
Bed Clover, Mammoth Clover, Alsike Clover, Crim- 
son Clover, Alfalfa, Peas, and Beans. 

Common Red Clover. Common red or medium 
clover is a perennial in some localities. In the 
northern states it is so likely to winter kill during 
the second winter that some consider it a biennial. 
It is usually sown in the spring with a nurse crop. 
It grows about two feet in height the second season, 
and the roots penetrate the soil to a considerable 



76 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

depth. Red clover makes good pasture, and is well 
adapted for hay. It ripens about two weeks earlier 
than timothy, and when the two are grown together 
for hay, it will be necessary to cut them before the 
timothy has- reached its maximum growth. If the 
clover is allowed to become overripe, the leaves, 
which form the best part of the plant, become brit- 
tle and drop off in handling. The yield of seed in 
the first crop is often light; but the second crop, 
which grows rapidly after the first is removed, often 
produces a large yield of seed. It is common to cut 
the first crop for hay and the second for seed. Com- 
mon red clover, like other legumes, leaves the soil 
rich in nitrogen. 

Mammoth Clover. Mammoth clover resembles 
medium clover very closely, but grows larger, is 
about two weeks later in ripening, and produces 
only one crop in a season. Like medium clover, it is 
sown with a nurse crop, and it often winter kills the 
second winter. Being of ranker growth, it is a little 
better than medium clover for pasture. 

Alsike Clover. Alsike or Swedish clover is a 
perennial with small white heads which are tinged 
with red. It is smaller than medium red clover, 
being about half way between red clover and white 
clover. It does not produce as much hay as medium 
clover, but the hay is of .excellent quality. There is 
a very light second crop. Alsike clover does well 
upon low, wet land which is flooded during a por- 
tion of the year. 



78 ELEMENTS OP AGRICULTURE. 

Crimson Clover. Crimson clover, sometimes 
called "scarlet clover," is adapted to a mild climate. 
It is an annual, and makes rapid growth even on 
light land. It can be distinguished by its long sear- 
let head. Crimson clover probably has no place in 
the states of the northwest. 

Alfalfa. Alfalfa resembles clover in its growth. 
It is difficult to get started, but, when once estab- 
lished, is likely to be long continued. It is a peren- 
nial, has a smaller leaf than clover, and has purple 
blossoms. Alfalfa is deep rooted, hence is a great 
drouth resister. It must be cut early, or the stems 
become coarse and woody. In mild climates it is cut 
several times for hay during a single season. In the 
northwest it is very promising, but will probably not 
produce more than two crops a year. 

Field Peas. Peas have been cultivated for so 
long a time that their native country is not known, 
but they are believed to be a native of southern or 
central Italy. They do best on light or sandy soils. 
The yield is better and they stand up better on light 
soils than on land which is very rich and heavy. 
Being legumes, they enrich the soil by taking nitro- 
gen from the air and leaving it in the soil in an 
available form when their roots decay. It takes 
from two to two and a half bushels of seed to sow an 
acre. Peas may be sown broadcast or with a drill. 
The seed should be covered quite deep, — from three 
to three and one-half inches being none too deep. 
As peas lodge badly, oats are often sown with them 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 79 

to help support them. It is a good plan to sow about 
two bushels of peas and one of oats. Peas sown in 
this way are very satisfactory as a forage, ensilage, 
or hay crop. If not lodged too badly, they can be 
cut with either the mower or reaper. 



CHAPTER X. 



POTATOES. 



History. The potato is a native of America. 
It grows wild in Chili, Peru, Central America, and 
Mexico. Potatoes were not introduced into Europe 
until the sixteenth century, and writers of that time 
speak of them as food suitable for hogs and cattle. 

Climate. Potatoes do best in a cool, moist cli- 
mate. They yield better in the northern than in 
the southern states, but they may be grown in al- 
most any region where any cultivated crop will 
grow. 

Soil. Potatoes need a very rich soil. A light 
loam very rich in humus is to be preferred, though 
they do well on a well-drained clay loam. They 
need a loose soil, and will not do well on land that is 
compact. 

Preparation of the Seed Bed. Potatoes require 
a thorough preparation of the soil. Deep plowing is 
the practice of the most successful potato growers. 
Spring plowing is preferred. After plowing, the 
soil should be smoothed with a harrow. 

Cutting Seed. If the land is rich and well pre- 
pared, single eyed cuttings are satisfactory and 
probably preferable. Increase the size of your seed 



POTATOES. 81 

piece if the soil is poor. The Aveight of the cutting 
is of more importance than the number of eyes. 
Hand cutting with careful selection of the pieces 
will pay best in the long run. Plant the cuttings as 
soon as they are made, and thus prevent drying out. 
Depth of Roots. The roots go down about 
twenty-four inches. They grow close to the surface 




Fig. 24. Root Development of Half-grown Potato 
Plant (from a photograph). 

also, and at the time of the last cultivation, or at 
the time the tubers are forming, two inches is as 
deep as one can cultivate without disturbing the 
roots. The potatoes do not grow on roots, but on 
underground stems. 

Cultivation. Harrow within a week after plant- 
ing, with a peg-tooth harrow. Repeat the harrow- 
ing often enough to keep down the weeds and to 
preserve a soil mulch. This should be continued 



82 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

until the vines are three or four inches above the 
ground. Later, cultivate as for corn. It is not ad- 
visable to hill potatoes, except enough to prevent 
their becoming sunburned. 

Bugs. As soon as the vines appear above 
ground, be on the lookout for potato bugs. When 
the bugs make their appearance, the vines should be 
treated with Paris green. Paris green may be ap- 
plied with water, or it may be mixed with land 
plaster. If Paris green is of good quality, it is not 
likely to injure the vines. It is the soluble arsenic 
which it contains that injures the vines. If, after 
the Paris green has been mixed with water, a little 
quicklime is added, the soluble arsenic unites with 
the lime, becomes insoluble, and is thus prevented 
from damaging the vines. 

Blight. Potato blight is a fungous disease, and, 
while it cannot be cured, it can be prevented. To 
prevent its getting a start, spray the vines with the 
Bordeaux mixture. Time will be saved if the Bor- 
deaux mixture is mixed with the Paris green, and 
both applied at the same time. The Bordeaux mix- 
ture consists of six pounds of copper sulphate and 
four pounds of quicklime dissolved in forty gallons 
of water. 

Scab. If the seed is at all affected with scab, it 
should be soaked for one hour in a formaldehyde 
solution, similar to that used in treating seed wheat. 

Harvesting. Potatoes should be dug as soon as 
the leaves turn yellow, and before the stalks are 
dead. Care should be taken not to cut or bruise the 



POTATOES. 



83 



potatoes while digging", and they should be picked 
up and sorted very soon after they are dug. Pota- 
toes are usually dug with a fork, but potato diggers 
with endless chain elevators do good work, and can 
be run deep enough to bring up all the potatoes 
whole and free from bruises. 

Storage. Dark cellars are preferable for stor- 
ing potatoes. Store in bins holding not more tharv 
three hundred bushels. Separate the bins with an 
air space, keep the temperature a little above freez- 
ing, and ventilate the cellar occasionally. 




Fig. 25. This photograph illustrates the importance of selecting 
the potatoes which one wishes to use for seed from the vine 
at digging time. Each vine breeds quite true to type. If 
one selects from' the bin, and uses rather small tubers, he 
is apt to use a majority of tubers which came from vines 
which naturally produce small potatoes. Hills 8a and 8b 
were grown from pieces of the same tuber. Hills 6a and 6b 
were also grown from pieces of one tuber. This shows how 
true each tuber breeds to its kind. 



84 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Selection of Seed. Select well-shaped, - well- 
matnred potatoes, from medium to large, that have 
not formed sprouts before planting. Good potatoes 
from the best hills make ideal seed. 

Varieties. Plant varieties that sell well on the 
market, and which yield well. The point of yield 
is best settled by actual trial. There are a great 
number of varieties, and new ones are constantly 
coming out. Among the early varieties the follow- 
ing may be mentioned : Early Rose, Rose Gem, Six 
Weeks, Snowflake, Early Vermont, Sunrise, Beauty 
of Hebron, and Early Ohio. Late varieties : Rural 
New Yorker No. 2, White Star, White Elephant, 
Mammoth Pearl, Burbank, Peerless, Dakota Red, 
and Prolific. 






FIG. 26. VARIETY TYPES OF POTATOES. 


1. 


North 


Dakota No. 


63, Salzer's Earliest. 


2. 


North 


Dakota No. 


73, White Ohio. 


3. 


North 


Dakota No. 


48, Six Weeks. 


4. 


North 


Dakota No. 


39, Early Andes. 


5. 


North 


Dakota No. 


58, Early Ohio. 


6. 


North 


Dakota No. 


60, Early Mayflower. 


7. 


North 


Dakota No. 


45, Early Beauty of Hebron. 


8. 


North 


Dakota No. 


67, Secretary Wilson. 


9. 


North 


Dakota No. 


79, Snow Flake. 


10. 


North 


Dakota No. 


74, Thoroughbred. 


11. 


North 


Dakota No. 


75, Abundance. 


12. 


North 


Dakota No 


42, Early Rose. 


13. 


North 


Dakota No. 


50, World's Fair. 


14. 


North 


Dakota No. 


46, Burpee's Superior. 


15. 


North 


Dakota No 


43, Cannon No. 1. 


16. 


North 


Dakota No. 


47, Rural New Yorker No. 2. 


17. 


North 


Dakota No. 


69. Hundred Fold. 


18. 


North 


Dakota No. 


59, Ideal. 


19. 


North 


Dakota No. 


54, Pingree. 


20. 


North 


Dakota No 


55, Freeman. 


21. 


North 


Dakota No. 


G5, Free Silver. 



CHAPTER XI. 

RAPE. 

Rape has been grown in England for many 
years. There are both spring and winter varieties, 
but the winter kinds are not hardy enough for the 
northern states. Rape belongs to the mustard fam- 
ily, which includes the turnip and cabbage. It has 
the strong flavor characteristic of plants belonging 
to its family. This causes rape to be very palatable 
to cattle, sheep, and hogs ; but it will not do to feed 
rape to milch cows, except immediately after milk- 
ing, as it gives the milk a disagreeable flavor. Care 
must be taken, or it may cause sheep and cattle to 
bloat. Rape is especially valuable for sheep and 
hog pasture. If not grazed too close when young, 
rape will furnish a large amount of pasture to the 
acre. Rape may be sown as early in the spring as 
the land can be worked, or as late as the first of 
July if desired for fall pasture. It may be sown in 
rows far enough apart for cultivation, in six-inch 
drills, or broadcast. It requires three pounds of 
seed per acre when sown in drills thirty inches apart, 
and five pounds when sown broadcast. Rape may be 
sown with wheat or other small grain, to make pas- 
ture after the grain is harvested. The seed is like 
turnip seed in appearance. 



CHAPTER XII. 

ROTATION OF CROPS. 

Importance of Rotation. If the farm is well 
adapted to a certain valuable crop, why not grow 
that crop on the same soil year after year? This 
is being done in many parts of the western states, 
especially in those sections where wheat can be 
profitably grown. This practice is not wholly to be 
condemned, as wheat can be produced with less ex- 
pense for labor than many crops, and it also gives 
the new settlers quick returns in the form of ready 
money. On the other hand, the growing of any crop 
continuously on the same land must sooner or later 
bring about the impoverishment of the soil, unless 
the fertility of the land is kept up by heavy manur- 
ing, or by the application of commercial fertilizers. 
Even the rich soil of the Red River Valley is already 
beginning to feel the effects of the too-continuous 
production of grain crops. This is shown in the 
small wheat yields where wheat has followed wheat 
continuously, as compared with the crops of wheat 
after corn or other cultivated crop. 

Reasons for Rotation — Labor. When several 
crops, each ripening at a different time, are grown, 
it is much easier for the farmer to harvest them all. 
If he produces a large variety of crops, and keeps 



88 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

a fair amount of live stock, he is enabled to give em- 
ployment to his men for a longer period, thus mak- 
ing it possible to secure better and more reliable 
help. 

Rotation Affects the Soil Chemically. The vari- 
ous crops are all composed of the same elements, 
but not in exactly the same proportion. They all 
take practically the same kinds of food from the 
soil, but they do not take the same amount of each 
kind of food. This fact must not be made too much 
of, how^ever, as plants differ only slightly in their 
food requirements. Certain crops, such as clover 
and alfalfa, often leave the soil richer in nitrogen 
than they found it. Such crops are very valuable in 
the rotation. 

Rotation Affects the Physical Condition of the 
Soil. Soil is given different cultivation for the vari- 
ous crops. For some crops v\^e plow deeper than for 
others; some are cultivated, others not; and some 
do better on fall plowing, while for others the land 
should be plowed in the spring. Some crops are 
deep rooted, others shallow; some have large tap 
roots, while others do not. All these variations af- 
fect favorably the physical condition of the soil, and 
bring about the production of larger crops. 

Crop Rotation and Weeds. Growing the same 
crop year after year on the same land may be just 
the right treatment to encourage the growth and 
distribution of certain weeds. In order to keep the 
soil reasonably free from weeds, it is necessary to 
grow some cultivated crops. This will not free the 



90 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

soil entirely from weeds, but will hold them in 
check, and greatly increase the crop yield. 

Effect on Plant Diseases and Injurious Insects. 
If a crop is planted in the same place year after year, 
it is much more likely to be attacked by insects and 
diseases than if planted there only once in three or 
four years. For example, corn is more likely to be 
injured by smut, and potatoes by potato bugs, when 
grown on the same land several years in succession. 

Rotations. There are several series of rotations 
that give excellent results in tire northwest. One 
of the best consists of a crop of corn followed by 
two or three crops of wheat and flax. Potatoes, 
summer fallow, or millet may. take the place of corn 
in the four-year rotation. As a rule, three crops of 
wheat following a crop of cultivated corn yield as 
much wheat as if the land had been in wheat all 
four years. In case the soil is lacking in nitrogen, 
clover, alfalfa, or some other legume should find a 
place in the rotation. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

WEEDS. 

Definition. A weed is a plant out of place. 
Even our cultivated plants become weeds when tliey 
grow where they are not wanted. 

Classification. Weeds may be divided into three 
classes, — annual or one-year weeds, biennial or two- 
year weeds, and perennial or many-year weeds. 

Disadvantages of Weeds. 

1. They rob cultivated plants of nutriment and 
moisture. 

2. They injure crops by crowding and shading. 

3. They retard the work of harvesting grain 
by increasing the draft and by extra wear of ma- 
chinery (bindweed, thistles, kinghead). 

4. They retard the drying- of grain and hay. 

5. They increase the labor of threshing, and 
make cleaning of seed difficult. 

6. They damage the quality of flour, sometimes 
making it nearly worthless (cow cockle, corn cockle). 

7. Most of them are of little value as food for 
domestic animals. 

8. Some weeds injure stock by means of awns 
(squirrel tail, wild oats, porcupine grass). 

9. Some of them injure wool, and disfigure the 



92 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

manes and tails of horses (burdock, cockle burr, wild 
liquorice). 

10. A few make hair balls in the stomach. 

11. Some injure the quality of dairy products 
(leeks, wild onions). 

12. Water hemlock, death camas, and lupines 
are very poisonous. 

13. Frenchweed, and probably others, when 
eaten by animals, injure the taste of meat. 

14. Many weeds interfere with a rotation of 
crops. 

15. All weeds damage the appearance of a farm 
and render it less valuable (quack grass, Canada 
thistle, Russian thistle). 

Some Small Benefits. 

1. They are of some use in the world to induce 
more frequent and thorough cultivation, which bene- 
fits crops. 

2. In occupying the soil after a crop has been 
removed, they prevent loss of fertility by shading 
the ground. 

3. Weeds plowed under add some humus to the 
soil (adapted from Dr. W. J. Beal). 

Weeds of Special Interest. Among the worst 
weeds found in North Dakota are wild oats, wild 
buckwheat, Russian thistle, pigeon grass, quack 
grass, wild barley, cow cockle, tumbling mustard, 
yellow mustard, French weed, kinghead, and Can- 
ada thistle. Not all of these are found in every part 
of the state, but where found they do much damage: 



94 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 



(1) Wild Oats. This is a bad weed of the first 
rank. It is an annual, and most abundant in the 
eastern part of the state, especially in the Red River 
Valley. The plant and the grain resemble that of 
the cultivated oats. The grain has a horseshoe 
shaped ring of hairs at its base, is yellowish or black- 
ish in color, and bears on the back a blackish, twist- 
ed, and bent awn about one inch long. The grain 

is of light weight. The 
wild oat plant is quite dif- 
ferent from the porcupine 
grass found on the prai- 
ries, which has a twisted 
awn several inches long. 
^^ The latter is often wrong- 
ly called wild oats. Wild 
oats ripen earl}^, shell eas- 
ily, and probably remain 
in the ground many years 
without germinating, at 
least when the ground is dry. Wild oats may grow 
when three or four inches underground. They can 
never be gotten rid of if the land is cropped to grain 
continuousl}^ Farmers have succeeded in removing 
wild oats from their land in a variety of ways. 
The fallowing is one of the most thorough meth- 
ods : Plow the ground shallow in the fall after 
the crop has been removed. In the spring, plow the 
land deep, and summer fallow that season, keeping 
the ground clean mainly by the aid of the spring- 




Fig. 



Wild Oats. 



WEEDS. 95 

tooth harrow. Without plowing, grow a crop of flax 
or barley the next season. Pull the few wild oats 
that msiy be found in the barley or flax. Plow deep 
early in the fall. Summer fallow the piece clean the 
next year in the same manner as before, and put the 
summer fallow into wheat or barley the year follow- 
ing without plowing, harrowing the ground well be- 
fore seeding. This method calls for an extra sum- 
mer fallowing, but the fact that the land is freed 
from wild oats should repay the extra work. 

(2) Wild Buckwheat. This well-known annual 
is found everywhere in the state where cultivation 
has been carried on. It has a twining or trailing 
stem, the leaves approach the triangular in outline, 
and the flowers are inconspicuous. The seeds are 
about one-eighth of an inch long, three-angled, and 

dull black. The seed is diffi- 
cult to remove from wheat. 
This plant produces a large 
amount of foliage in a short 
time, and so suft'ocates the 
growing crop. There is no in- 
fallible rule for the treatment 
of this weed. It does the least 
damage to those farmers that 
pay careful attention to pure 
Fig. 30. seed, intensive farming, and 

Wild Buckwheat. t , , • 

good rotation. 

(3) Russian Thistle. This famous weed is well 
known over the light soils of the state, but in the 
Red River Valley region it is scarce. When young 





96 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

it is dark green, with soft, narrow, awl-shaped 
leaves. As the leaves become older they develop 
prickles on their ends, which fact, coupled with the 

home of the plant, gives 
it its name. It is related 
neither to the thistles nor 
to the cacti, but is a near 
relative of the 'pigweed. 
The best means of repres- 
sion are cultivated crops 
and clean summer fallow, 
cutting oats or millet con- 
Fig. 31. Russian Thistle, taiuing it for hay, firing 
wheat stubble, and cutting plants in waste places. 
Plants in waste places are apt to form the big rollers, 
which do so much in the way of distributing seed. 
This plant need not be feared in thickly settled com- 
munities if the land is handled correctly. 

(4) Pigeon Grass; Yellow Foxtail; Wild Millet. 
This introduced weed is found almost everywhere 
in cultivated ground. It is particularly abundant 
in grain fields, potato patches, and gardens. It is 
an annual, and germinates about the first of May. 
When young it can be told from all other grasses, 
except cockspur, by its rather wide leaf and the 
reddish color of the stems near the ground. The 
heads of this grass resemble those of common and 
other similar millets, but are somewhat smaller. 
The seeds are yellowish, oval, and rather hard. 
They are easily removed from wheat, but are diffi- 
cult to remove from flaxseed. This weed is present 



WEEDS. 



97 



under the most careful methods of farming. All 
that can be done is to reduce its ravages to a mini- 
mum. Pure seed grain is an efficient factor here, as 
elsewhere. Early seeded grain gets started ahead 
of pigeon grass. 

(5) Quack Grass; Couch Grass. Quack grass is 
a valuable forage and hay grass, but because of its 
persistent underground stems it is difficult to eradi- 
cate when the land is desired for cultivation. These 
stems are easily reached by the plow. This grass 
must be handled in a dry season. The land is plow- 
ed shallow and cultivated 
continuously. The fol- 
lowing season the ground 
is seeded heavily to brome 
grass. When the brome 
grass is cut for hay, the 
sod is broken and backset 
in the fall. This is fol- 
lowed by a cultivated 
crop or by wheat. Small 
areas may be killed by 
smothering with a thick 

application of straw or manure. 

(6) Wild Barley; Foxtail; Flickertail. This 
grass, which is related to the field barley, is easily 
recognized by its habit of invading lawns and pas- 
tures, and by its long, spreading awns. The awns 
are very injurious in hay. The leaves and stems are 
bluish-green, and covered by soft hairs. The nod- 
ding heads resemble those of common barley, but 
are softer and the awns finer. This plant is eaten some 




Fig. 32. Quack Grass. 



98 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

by stock while it is young, but is not often touched 
when the heads appear ; thus, the grass is a positive 
damage to pasture. The awns injure the lining of 
the alimentary tract of an animal when taken in as 
part of the hay. They also lodge between the teeth 
of animals, and gradually work their way farther 
in, setting up inflammation and ulceration, caus- 
ing the teeth to drop out in some cases. Inflam- 
mation may continue until the greater part of the 
jawbone becomes diseased. This grass is difficult 
to eradicate. When practicable, it should be cut 
before the heads ripen, and then burned. If nec- 
essary, it should be recut. If much of it is found 
in a field, the ground should be broken in June, 
cropped, and seeded to brome grass. It is easily 
killed by plowing, but the land soon becomes re- 
seeded by the wind. It bothers seriously in over- 
stocked pastures. 

(7) Pink Cockle; Cow Cockle; Cowherb. This 
annual is found in grain fields over the larger por- 
tion of North Dakota. It is from one to three feet 
high, with a spreading top, bearing a large number 
of pink flowers about one inch in length. The 
leaves are very smooth, and opposite to each other 
on the stem. The seeds are nearly black, spherical, 
roughened, and about twice the size of mustard 
seed. Because of the difficulty of their removal 
from wheat, their presence "cuts" the grade. The 
seeds are poisonous, and flour made from wheat 
containing them is injurious to health. When in 
blossom, the plant is easily recognized in grain 
fields, and when not abundant should be pulled. 



WEEDS. 



99 



It would probably pay to pull it, even when it is 
abundant. If clean seed grain is sown, the weed 
can easily be eradicated, provided a good system of 
rotation is followed. 

(8) Tumbling Mustard. This weed, sometimes 
called white mustard, is most abundant in the light- 
er soils of the state. In the flax fields of the central 
portion of North Dakota it seems to take almost 
complete possession. The flowers are nearly white 
or faint yellow in color. The leaves are oblong in 

shape, and cut-toothed. 
The pods are long and 
very slender, and may 
contain over one hundred 
seeds. The seeds vary in 
color from reddish yellow 
to yellowish green, and 
are the size of a naked 
timothy seed. The plants 
become very bushy if al- 
lowed room to develop. 
They die in September, 
after the hard frosts, and, 
breaking loose from the 
ground, they are rolled 
hither and thither by the 
wind. The seeds are not easily released from the 
pod, and so much rolling and pounding is required 
to distribute them. One plant may develop 1,500,000 
seeds, which would seed five acres, allowing seven 
seeds to the square foot. The large "tumblers" that 
form in waste places should be destroyed. The 

L.-fC. 




This figure illus- 
a seedling plant of 
destructive weed 
known as Tumbling Mus- 
tard. Many annual plants 
such as tumbling mustard 
and pennycress produce 
seedlings in the fall of the 
year, which are not killed 
by the freezing of winter. 
These grow rapidly and do 
great damage the following 
spring, if not destroyed. 



100 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

stubble should be burned in the fall, and the land 
plowed in the spring. Flax should not be seeded.' 
This weed does not cause loss if the land is clean 
at the time the grain is seeded, so that the grain 
will have equal chances with the tumbling mustard. 

(9) Yellow or Wild Mustard. If this well- 
known plant is not too thick in the field, it may be 
pulled each year until the field is free from it. If 
the mustard is too abundant to allow a crop to 
grow, it should be cut when in full bloom, and 
either plowed under or burned. Summer fallow the 
knd clenn that season. Grow a crop of millet or 
onts the next season, cutting it green. Try a crop 

of corn the next year, keeping 
it clean. Sow the corn stubble 
to wheat without plowing. 
Pull all of the mustard each 
year to prevent the develop- 
ment of any seed. Whenever 
a large number of mustard 
seeds are brought to the sur- 
face by plowing, the crop 
grown on such land is prefera- 
Fig. 35. Wild Mustard, j^jy ^ cultivated crop. If the 
mustard infested area is too large to be handled at 
one time, seed a portion of it to brome grass. When 
the brome grass sod is broken, the mustard seed 
should be germinated and killed as outlined above. 

(10) French Weed; Penny cress; Stink Weed. 
Vicious and abundant as this plant is in parts of 
North Dakota, many farmers do not know it* when 
it is young. It germinates either in the fall or 




WEEDS. 



101 



spring. In the former case it lives through the win- 
ter and ripens the next season. The pods are flat, 
circular, winged, one-half inch in diameter, and con- 
tain about sixteen brown seeds, 
one-twelfth of an inch long. As 
the plant approaches maturity 
the leaves drop off and their 
work is done by the large, 
green pods. The plant varies 
from two inches to nearly three 
feet in height, and bears from 
one to five thousand pods. It 
seeds in dense timothy sod al- 
most as well as in untouched 
summer fallow. It thrives in 
waste places, and is at home in 
re',?tfthe?o'p ofVnS: ^^^ ""^ wheat fields. In gen- 
llZ'ilZl ZlZf'Ztl''- "'^1' it ^l^o"!'! l^e treated as yel- 
"lTir"';ar,ic.'?'"foSe- low mustard. 

times improperly called /it\ n^ j. t» i tx' 

'shepherds purse." (H) Great Ragwecd ; King- 

This illustrates why i,^„ji rni • ^ , • -, 

botanists persist in us- iieaa. ihis plant IS an annual, 

ing Latin names for all -i ,, • i • i a ■ 

plants and animals, and attams a height 01 SIX or 

This plant reproduces • i o t i 

only by seed, and the evCU eight lect. ItS IcaVCS are 

winged pods provide a 

splendid means for scat- large and deeply cut. It is best 

tering the seeds. See 

North Dakota Experi- knOWU On aCCOUUt of itS 

ment Station Bulletin 

No. 56. ''seeds" or akenes. These are 

light in weight, yellowish or brownish, one-fourth 
inch long, and have an encircling row of projections, 




102 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 




Fig. 



Ragweed. 



whence the name "Kinghead." 
These seeds are so difficult to 
remove from wheat that their 
presence in any quantity caus- 
es the grade to be reduced. It 
infests crops more particularly 
in low lands. The plants should 
be pulled the latter part of 
June or early in July, before 
the seeds have formed. 
(12) Canada Thistle. The aggressiveness, the 

rank growth, the ease of seed distribution, the in- 
crease of the plant by underground stems, and the 

spiny leaves make the 

Canada thistle dreaded 

above nearly all other 

plants, where known. It 

is a true thistle, and is 

distinguished from the 

prairie thistle by the 

leaves being a darker 

green, without prickles or 

hair on their upper sur- 
face, and by their heads 

having no prickly spines. 

It grows in very dense 

patches. It is held by some 

that this plant does not 

bear seed capable of growing. This is certainly not 
true of North Dakota plants. Although this plant 

grows from underground stems, its life depends ulti- 
mately upon the green leaves it produces above the 




Fig, 



Canada Thistle. 
Showing its method of 
growth from under-ground 
root stocks. New plants 
sprout up from every joint 
in this stock. See Experi- 
ment Station Bulletin 
No. 56. 



WEEDS. 103 

ground. The green leaves constitute a sort of stom- 
ach for the plant, and as long as these are present the 
plant will grow and add new material to itself. A 
portion of this new material will be stored in the 
underground stems as reserve food material. ' If 
the stems of the thistle above ground, the aerial 
stems, are cut off, the thistle plant draws upon its 
reserve food material for the production of new 
leaves. If the aerial stems continue to be cut off, 
there comes a time when the reserve food material 
becomes exhausted, and no more leaves can be pro- 
duced. The method of killing the thistle consists in 
preventing the plant from producing green leaves 
until its reserve food is used. This may be done by 
continuous cutting, by smothering, or by cultivation. 



CPIAPTER XIV. 

INJURIOUS INSECTS. 

Extent of Injury. Agricultural success or fail- 
ure often depends upon the absence or presence of 
certain destructive insects. Practically all cultivat- 
ed plants are more or less subject to insect attack. 
The total damage each year in the United States 
from injurious insects is estimated at $300,000,000. 

Controlling Injurious Insects. Except for the 
constant effort to keep these destructive foes of 
field and orchard within reasonable bounds, the loss 
would be much\ greater, while certain crops could 
not be grown at all. In recent years much im- 
provement has been made in the matter of fighting 
insects. Fruit growers especially, by means of im- 
proved machinery and remedies, have greatly less- 
ened the cost and labor of keeping destructive in- 
sects under reasonable control. 

Knowledge Necessary. The careful study of 
injurious insects, to obtain a knowledge of their life 
history, is of the greatest importance. Without it 
one could hardly hope to meet with success in fight- 
ing them. One engaged in farming is naturally in- 
terested chiefly in the insects of his own region. 
These are usually not so numerous that he cannot 
learn their habits. 



INJURIOUS INSECTS. 105 

Habits of Insects. The habits of insects deter- 
mine the methods to be used in their extermination. 
For instance, some insects get their living by suck- 
ing the juices of plants, and so cannot be poisoned. 
Plant lice belong to this group. Others, like the 
cutworm, feed on the part of the plant below the 
soil, and so demand some special treatment. The 
same is true of insects that live inside of the plant, 
of which the Hessian fly is an example. The treat- 
ment that would destroy the potato beetle would 
not affect these. There are still other insects, like 
the grain louse, for which there is no treatment but 
what would cost more than the value of the crop. 

Remedies. The remedies for injurious insects 
may be grouped roughly und<3r two heads: First, 
mechanical treatment, such as plowing, burning, 
etc. ; second, destroying with poisons and other ma- 
terials fatal to insects. The second group of reme- 
dies may be divided into two parts: (1) The true 
poisons, which are applied to the plants on which 
the insect feeds; (2) such substances as kill by com- 
ing in contact with the insect, like kerosene and 
tobacco. A study of the manner in which insects 
breathe will explain why an external application of 
the last-named materials is fatal to insects and not to 
animals. ^ 

Our Worst Insects. The insects most destruc- 
tive in North Dakota, or regions having a similar 
climate and producing the same crops, are the Hes- 
sian fly, grasshopper, potato beetle, army worm, and 
canker worm. The damage from the Hessian fly 



106 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 



alone in North Dakota sometimes reaches $2,000,000 
in a single season. Fortunately, most of these pests 
are controlled with comparative ease under our con- 
ditions. In regions where wheat is sown in the fall 
it often becomes necessary to give up the growing 
of this crop for one or two seasons on account of 
the Hessian fly. The other insects named, with the 
exception of the potato beetle, are found in destruc- 
tive numbers only occasionally, and then usually 
over but a small area. For this reason, the total 
amount of their destruction is not very great. 

(1) The Hessian Fly. The Hessian fly, like 
most other insects, passes through three stages in 
its development. The adult insects are very small, 
— about half as large as a mosquito and of much the 
same shape. They appear in May, laying their eggs 
in the young wheat plants close to the ground. The 
egg soon hatches into a tiny white grub, which 
works its way between the leaf and young stalk, 
where it sucks the juice of the plant. In the course 
of three or four weeks this grub stops feeding and 
takes on a tough, brown coat. In this stage, called 
''pupa," it somewhat resembles a flaxseed, though 
smaller and narrower. If very numerous, the plants 
turn brown, having a weak, sickly appearance. 
After a few days the case breaks open, and the sec- 
ond brood of adults appears, many times more 
numerous than the first. This brood also lays its eggs 
on the wheat plants, but this time at the second 
joint above the ground. This is done late in June 
and in July. The white grub hatches and feeds as 



INJURIOUS INSECTS. 107 

before, and, about the time the grain is ripening, 
develops into the flaxseed stage. In this stage it re- 
mains in the stubble over winter, giving rise in the 
spring to the first brood of adult insects already 
described. The damage done by the second brood 
is easily seen and estimated. At the time of ripen- 
ing, the infected stalks break over just above the 
point where the insect has been feeding during the 
season, — that is, at a point about half an inch above 
the second joint from the ground. These heads con- 
tain but little grain, and, falling to the ground as 
they do, cannot be harvested. The remedy is to 
plow or burn the stubble in the fall or very early 
in the spring. A few acres of stubble left in a field 
where the fly worked the year before would be suf- 
ficient to infest a whole section. 

(2) Other Injurious Insects. The life history 
of some of our other insects is quite as interesting 
as that of the Hessian fly, but cannot be given here. 
There are many books and pamphlets published by 
the government and by the different experiment sta- 
tions that tell the story of these in an interesting 
manner. 



CHAPTER XV. 
CATTLE. 

Origin and History. Cattle were domesticated 
in prehistoric times, but there is little information 
concerning them until the beginning of the seven- 
teenth century. From the testimony of rocks it is 
known that cattle existed in the northern part of 
Europe previous to the glacial period. Except the 
buffalo, no cattle existed in America before its dis- 
covery by Europeans. The improved breeds of cat- 
tle have been derived from Great Britain, with the 
exception of a few that originated on the continent 
of Europe. 

Classification. Cattle may be classified with 
reference to their horns as long horned, medium 
horned, short horned, and polled. The long horned 
breeds are represented by the West Highland, and 
by the breed known as Longhorns. The medium 
horned breeds are the Hereford, Sussex, Devon, and 
Ayrshire. The short horned breeds are the Short- 
horn, Jersey, Guernsey, and Kerry. The polled or 
hornless breeds are the Aberdeen Angus, Galloway, 
Polled Durham, and Red Poll. Cattle are also 
classified on the basis of utility as beef, dairy, and 
dual purpose. 

Beef Form. The beef form is compact, wide, 



CATTLE. 109 

and deep. The back is broad, well fleshed, and 
straight. The front quarters are wide, deep, and 
full, and the hind quarters long, wide, and deep. 
The beef animal should have soft, elastic flesh and a 
pliant skin. 

Dairy Form. The dairy animal has a long, 
deep body, which shows a large capacity for the 
consumption of food. The head, neck, withers, 
thighs, and limbs are refined in form, and the udder 
and milk veins are well developed. The dairy ani- 
mal has a large chest and much width through the 
heart, indicating good constitution. The eyes are 
clear, and the skin pliable and elastic. 

Dual Purpose Form. The dual purpose breeds 
combine the qualities of the beef and dairy breeds 
to quite an extent. They are not so compact or 
blocky in form as the beef breeds, and the udder and 
milk veins must be well developed. The dual pur- 
pose animal should have a large heart girth to indi- 
cate good constitution ; the head and neck should be 
long and fine, and the ribs fairly well sprung, open 
spaced, and covered with a soft, pliable skin. 

THE BEEF BREEDS. 

The following are the beef breeds in the order 
of their size, beginning with the largest: Short- 
horn, Hereford, Aberdeen Angus, Galloway, Sussex, 
and West Highland. 

Shorthorn. (1) Origin and History. The Short- 
horn breed of cattle is named from the shortness of 
its horns. It is also called Durham, from Durham 



110 



ELEMENTS OP AGRICULTURE. 



county, England, where the breed originated. The 
terms ''Shorthorn" and ''Durham" are now re- 
garded as synonymous. Shorthorns are descended 




Fig. 39. Short-Horn Bull "Ceremonious Archer" 171479; Cham- 
pion at the International Show in 1903. Owned by Frank 
O. Loudon, Oregon, 111. 

from two breeds, the Teeswater and Holderness. 
The early improvers of this breed were the Colling 
Brothers, Bates, Booth, and Cruickshank. 

(2) Strains. The three strains of Shorthorn 
cattle, known as the Bates, Booth, and Cruickshank, 
got their names from the famous breeders mentioned 
above. The Bates Shorthorns were famous for their 
size and large milk production, the Booth had great 
heart girth, a long hind quarter, and deep, mellow 
flesh, but lacked style, while the Cruickshank Short- 
horns were smaller but more compact than either the 
Bates or Booth strains. 



CATTLE. Ill 

(3) General Appearance. The standard colors 
of the Shorthorn are red, white, and roan. Red is 
quite popular, white is not very common, and roan 
is gaining in favor. 

(4) Popularity. At present the Shorthorn is 
the most popular breed of cattle in the world. They 
are favored on account of their great utility. Short- 
horns are classed among the dual purpose breeds 
as well as among the beef breeds. 

(5) Adaptability. Shorthorns are best suited 
to arable countries, but adapt themselves readily to 
changes of soil and climate. Their great size makes 
them ill adapted to mountainous countries. They 
graze only fairly well, and should be provided with 
good pastures. Shorthorns feed well, fatten rap- 
idly, and rarely become patchy. 

(6) Beef Qualities. They mature early, and 
with suitable feed and care may be made ready for 
the block at the age of two and one-half years. The 
meat is tender, juicy, and nutritious, and is sur- 
passed in quality by that of few other breeds. 

(7) Milking Qualities. The milk is fair in quan- 
tity, and of excellent quality. The milking strain 
of the Shorthorn ranks well from the standpoint of 
milk production. 

(8) Weak Points. Sometimes they lack in con- 
stitution. This has been brought about by in and in 
breeding and highly artificial treatment. 

Herefords. (1) Origin and History. The 
Hereford breed of cattle is descended from one or 
more of the aboriginal breeds of Great Britain. 



112 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Their original color was probably red, and theii: 
white markings are allea^ed to have come from their 




Fig. 40. Yearling- Herefoi'd Bull "Santa Clans Hesiod" :^UU880. 
Bred by Massingham and Cosgrove, Harmon, N. D. Owned 
by the North Dakota Agricultural College. 

having been crossed with the white cattle of Wales, 
and the white-faced Flemish breed. 

(2) General Appearance. The face, throat, 
chest, legs, lower part of the body, and tip of tail are 
white, all other parts being red. They are rectan- 
gular in form, and compact. 

(3) Popularity. During the early part of the 
nineteenth century, Herefords were as popular gen- 
erally as Shorthorns. Shorthorns are more in favor 
at the present time with the average farmer, but 
Herefords are more popular on the ranges. 

(4) Adaptability. Herefords adapt themselves 
readily to conditions of soil and climate. They are 



CATTLE. 113 

well adapted to graze on rich, level land, and are 
equally suited to range conditions such as prevail 
in the western portion of the Dakotas. They are 
probably better adapted to warm climates than the 
Shorthorns, 

(5) Grazing and Feeding Qualities. Their 
grazing properties are superior to those of the Short- 
horns. Their feeding qualities are about equal to 
the feeding qualities of the Shorthorns, except that 
the Herefords are more inclined to patchiness. 

(6) Beef Qualities. They mature as early as 
the Shorthorns. They dress well, and the quality 
of the meat is good. 

(7) Milking Qualities. The milk ranks high in 
quality, but is often lacking in quantity. For this 
reason they must be considered strictly a beef breed. 

(8) Weak Points. Their weakest points are 
their lack of milk production and lightness of thigh. 

Aberdeen Angus. (1) Origin and History. 
The Aberdeen Angus is probably descended froin 
the aboriginal cattle of Great Britain. It is believ- 
ed that their ancestors had horns. No one knows 
how this breed lost its horns, but it probably oc- 
curred since domestication. This breed of cattle 
originated in Scotland. 

(2) General Appearance. They are black in 
color, though a shade of brown is not rejected. 
White above the underline or on the legs excludes 
from registration. In form they are low set, and 
have long, round bodies. 

(3) Popularity. The Aberdeen Angus cattle 



114 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

were little known except in Scotland previous to 
the middle of the past century. They are now 
widely distributed throughout the United States, 
and are very popular as beef producers. 




Fig. 41. Pure Bred Aberdeen Angus Steer "Clear Lake Jute;" 
, Grand Champion at the International, 1904. Exhibited by 
the University of Minnesota. 

(4) Adaptability. They do well on the western 
ranges, but are better adapted to a temperate cli- 
tmate, and to regions where shelter can be given 
them in winter. 

(5) Grazing" and Feeding Qualities. This breed 
does not graze well on rough land, or where pastures 
are poor, but they feed well, and rarely become 
patchy. 

(6) Beef Qualities. They mature early, and the 
quality of the meat is rated a little ahead of that of 
the Shorthorns and Herefords, and nearly equal to 



CATTLE. 115 

that of the Galloway and West ITighlancl breeds. 
In percentage of meat to live weight they are un- 
excelled. 

(7) Milking Qualities. Some individuals milk 
well. As a rule the quantity of milk is small, though 
the quality is good. 

Galloway. (1) Origin and History. The Gal- 
loways are among the oldest of the improved breeds. 
They are descended from the aboriginal cattle of 
Scotland, and have been bred pure as far back as 
their history can be traced, 

(2) General Appearance. Their color is black, 
and the hair is long and beautifully waved. On ac- 
count of the long, wavy hair, their hides are much 
in demand for robes. In form they are low set, 
and ccympact. 

(3) Popularity. They are not as popular as 
the Shorthorn, Hereford, and Aberdeen Angus 
breeds, but are gaining in popularity in the United 
States and Canada. 

(4) Adaptability. The Galloway is one of the 
hardiest of the British breeds. They are well 
adapted to range conditions, and do better on scant 
pastures than most of, the other beef breeds. Their 
long, thick hair protects them in wet and cold 
weather. 

(5) Grazing and Feeding Qualities. Their graz- 
ing qualities are first class. They are able to rough 
it on poor pastures, and on rich pastures they put 
on flesh rapidly. They feed well, take on flesh 



116 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

smoothly, and are almost entirely free from patchi- 
ness. 

(6) Beef Qualities. The Galloways are a little 
late in maturing, but their meat commands the 
highest market price. 

(7) Milking Qualities. Individuals milk well, 
but this is not generally true of the breed. Their 
milk ranks high in quality. 

(8) Weak Points. Their weak points consist 
of undeveloped milking qualities and lack of size. 

DAIRY BREEDS. 

The following are the common dairy breeds in 
the order of their size, beginning with the largest: 
Holstein, Dutch Belted, Ayrshire, Guernsey, Jersey, 
French Canadian, and Kerry. 

Holstein. (1) Origin and History. The Hol- 
stein is a very old breed. Its native home is Hol- 
land, where it seems to have been bred pure for 
about two thousand years. Holland was well known 
as a dairy region during the ninth century. 

(2) General Appearance. The color is black 
and white, the head, neck, and limbs slender, and 
the form parallelogrammic, rather than wedge 
shaped. They are almost as large as the Short- 
horns. 

(3) Popularity. In America they are one o£ 
the most popular of the dairy breeds. The Jersey 
is probably the only dairy breed that is more pop- 
ular. 



CATTLE. 117 

(4) Adaptability. They are especially adapted 
to sections where the land is rich and level. 

(5) Grazing and Feeding Qualities. Their large 
size prevents their grazing well on lands that are 
hilly, or where they have to travel far in search of 
food. They make good use of soiling crops and en- 
silage, especially when these are used as supple- 
mentary to their summer pasture. Holsteins feed 
well for beef up to the age of eighteen months, the, 
meat being of excellent quality. As they approach 
maturity, the dairy type becomes more prominent, 
and they do not fatten so readil}^ 




Fig. 42. Holstein Cow "Donation." Owned by tlie University 
of Wi&consin. 

(6) Milking Qualities. In quantity of milk the 
Holstein stands first among all the breeds of cattle. 
The milk, on an average, does not test high in but- 



118 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

ter fat, though the total amount of butter fat is 
large. The milk is rich in solids, not fat; and the 
percentage of fat is large enough to make the milk 
excellent for the production of cheese. 

(7) Weak Points. Their milk gives a low fat 
test, and the quality of meat from the mature animal 
is not of a high grade. 

Guernsey. (1) Origin and History. Guernsey 
cattle are named from their place of origin, — the 
island of Guernsey. This is one of the Channel 
Island group, which is in the English Channel be- 
tween France and England. The Guernseys are 
probably descended from the cattle of Brittany and 
Normandy. Thej^ have been bred pure for many 
centuries on the island of Guernsey. 

(2) General Appearance. In color they are red, 
light lemon, orange, and yellow fawn, usually with 
white markings. The white markings are common- 
ly on the face, flanks, and legs. They are never 
gray, — a common color among the Jerseys. 

(3) Popularity. The Guernseys are not as pop- 
ular as the Jerseys. This is doubtless partly due to 
the fact that comparatively little effort has been 
made to bring them before the public. 

(4) Adaptability. Guernseys are especially 
adapted to temperate climates, though they have 
done well in the vicinity of Quebec. They do bet- 
ter on arable lands than where the land is rough or 
the feed scarce. 

(5) Grazing and Feeding Qualities. Their 
grazing qualities are only medium. They rank 



CATTLE. 119 

ahead of the Jersey as meat producers, though the 
meat of the mature animal is not first class. 

(6) Milking^ Qualities. Their milk tests nearly 
as high in fat as that of the Jersey, is slightly richer 
in color, and the average yield is probably greater. 

(7) WeaJi Points. As dairy animals, their 
weak points are not pronounced. Perhaps their 
weakest point is their inability to rough it. 

Jersey. (1) Origin and History. Jerseys get 
their name from the island of Jersey, one of the 
Channel Island group off the coast of France, and 
belonging to Great Britain. The Jerseys are proba- 
bly descended from the cattle of Normandy, hence 
are related to the Guernseys. It is said that they 
have been bred pure on the island of Jersey for 
nearly five hundred years. 

(2) General Appearance. -They have a beauti- 
ful, deer-like form and a small head. When in milk 
they are inclined to be very thin. 

(3) Popularity. Judging from their numbers, 
they are without doubt the most popular breed of 
dairy cattle in America. 

(4) Adaptability. They are best adapted to 
temperate regions, but do well in comparatively cold 
climates. They do not thrive on sparse or rugged 
pastures. 

(5) Grazing and Feeding Qualities. Jerseys 
should be kept on rich pastures. At maturity they 
have too much of the dairy form to fatten well, but 
up to the age of eight months they make fairly good 
meat. 



120 ELEMENTS OP AGRICULTURE. 

(6) Milking Qualities. Jerseys are famous on 
account of the quality of their milk. In the pro- 
duction of milk rich in fat they have no close rival 
except the Guernsey and French Canadian. 

(7) Weak Points. Their weak points are lack 
of stze and delicacy of constitution. 

DUAL PURPOSE BREEDS. 

The following are the dual purpose breeds in 
the order of their size, beginning with the largest: 
Shorthorn, Polled Durham, Brown Swiss, Red Poll, 
and Devon. 

Shorthorn. The Shorthorn is classed both as a 
beef breed and dual purpose breed. Some families 
of Shorthorns belong clearly to the beef breeds, 
while other strains have more of the dairy type, and 
may be classed as dual purpose. As the Shorthorn 
has been quite fully described under beef breeds, a 
more extended discussion is not necessary here. 

Polled Durham. (1) Origin and History. The 
Polled Durham was developed in the United States 
from two different sources of ancestry. One branch 
is a cross between pure-bred Shorthorns and grade 
Mulleys, and the other is composed of pure-bred 
Shorthorns which are hornless. 

(2) General Appearance. In appearance they 
are much like the Shorthorns, but they do not carry 
the beef form to so great a degree, are more devel- 
oj)ed in their milking qualities, and hornless. In 
color markings they do not differ from the Short- 
horns. 



CATTLE. 121 

(3) Popularity. They promise to become very 
popular as dual-purpose animals. At the World's 
Fair in Chicago, in 1893, the Polled Durhams won 
the sweepstakes prize, which was open to all dual 
purpose cattle. 

Brown Swiss. (1) Origin and History. Brown 
Swiss cattle originated in SAvitzerland. They have 
been imported very extensively into Italy, Germany, 
and Kussia. During the last few years, large num- 
bers have been imported into the United States. 

(2) Popularity. They are very popular in Eu- 
rope, and are gaining in favor in the United States 
and Canada. Their popularity is undoubtedly 
based on merit. 

(3) Adaptability. Being strong and vigorous, 
they can be kept profitably where most of the dairy 
breeds would prove a failure. They are best adapt- 
ed, however, to arable soil, where both beef and 
milk are sought. 

(4) Grazing and Feeding Qualities. Their graz- 
ing qualities are good, as their original home is a 
mountainous country where the land is rough and 
the feed often scarce. The steers make good beef, 
and the cows fatten readily when dry. 

(5) Milking Qualities. They give a fairly large 
quantity of milk, and the quality also ranks high. 
They are easy to manage, and are becoming more 
popular for the dairy. 

(6) Weak Points. Their weak points are lack 
of uniformity in type. They are rather coarse 
boned, which gives them a rough appearance. 



122 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Red Polled. (1) Origin and History. The Red 

Polled breed originated in England. They have 




Fig. 43. Red Polled Cow 
of Wisconsin. 



'Celia." Owned by the University 



been crossed with the Galloway, West Highland, 
and Shorthorn. They have been mnch improved 
by careful selection during the last fifty years. 

(2) General Appearance. Their color is a deep 
red, but the tip of the tail may be white. They are 
somewhat smaller than the Shorthorn, and have 
less of the beef form. 

(3) Popularity. Red Polls are probably the 
most popular of the general purpose breeds in the 
United States, and they are rapidly gaining in favor. 

(4) Adaptability. Though they will thrive in 



CATTLE. 123 

a severe climate, they are best adapted to milder 
conditions. They do best where the land is rich, 
and where they can receive the best of care. 

(5) Grazing and Feeding Qualities. Their graz- 
ing qualities are about medium. They fatten rap- 
idly when dry. The steers are medium in size, fat- 
ten readily, and make excellent beef. 

(6) Milking Qualities. Red Polls give a large 
quantity of rich milk, and are very uniform and 
persistent in their milking qualities. 

(7) Weak Points. They are a little deficient in 
heart girth, and lack uniformity. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

HORSES. 

Horses are classified as light horses and draft 
horses. Light horses may be divided into three 
main classes : Carriage horses, road horses and sad- 
dle horses. The following are the common breeds 
of light horses : The French Coach, German Coach, 
Hackney, Cleveland Bay, American Trotter, Thor- 
oughbred, and American Saddle Horse. 

LIGHT HORSES. 

Carriage Horses. Carriage horses are distin- 
guished by their size, style, and action. They should 
be at least 16 hands high, smooth, and symmetrical. 
They are not expected to go fast, but are required to 
have high knee and hock action. They are used 
by the wealthy class of our cities to drive for pleas- 
ure. Most carriage horses are descended from the 
French and German Coach breeds, the Hackney, 
Cleveland Bay, and American Trotter. 

Road Horses. Road horses, commonly called 
"Roadsters," should be about 15i^ hands high, and 
weigh approximately 1,000 pounds. Essential qual- 
ifications for the road horse are speed and stamina. 
He invariably lacks the symmetry of the carriage 
horse. He is narrow and slender, and shows much 



126 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

refinement about the head.' His legs should be 
clean, with the tendons well defined. Many Road- 
sters lack size, — a point which has too often been 
sacrificed for speed. This class of horses is used 
both for pleasure and business. Road horses are 
almost all American Trotters. 

The Saddle Horse. The saddle horse type is in- 
termediate between the carriage and road classes. 
They show more quality than the carriage horse, 
and more symmetry than the Roadster. They are 
bred for riding, and the essential qualification con- 
sists in their ability to show the different gaits de- 
sired. The following gaits are considered standard 
for horses of this class: (1) Walk, (2) trot, (3) 
single foot, or rack, (4) canter, and (5) slow pace, 
running walk, or fox trot. Most saddle horses are 
derived from the American Saddle Horse and Thor- 
oughbred breeds. 

French Coach. The French Coach horse has 
been developed through the encouragement and di- 
rection of the French government. The typical 
French Coach horse is in all essentials a carriage 
horse. They stand about 16 hands high, and weigh 
1,200 to 1,400 pounds. They stand rather high on 
legs, and are striking in appearance, as they carry 
their heads and tails high when in motion. They 
have a smooth and symmetrical appearance, as they 
are compact and closely ribbed. The hips are smooth 
and well covered, their quarters are strong and well 
muscled, and they have intelligent heads and grace- 
ful necks. The distinguishing characteristics of the 



HORSES. 127 

breed, as well as of all carriage breeds, is tlieir high 
action. They should bring their knees up high, and 
have high and regular hock action. The common 
colors are brown, bay, and black, and these colors 
are generally solid, although many of them have 
some white markings. Many claim that they lack 
quality of bone, and that their joints are somewhat 
coarse and rough. They do not breed very true to 
tj^pe, as a rule. This is accounted for in the fact that 
so much alien blood was used in establishing the 
breed. 

German Coach. The German Coach horse, as 
the name implies, is a native of Germany. The av- 
erage of the breed stand about 16 hands high, and 
weigh from 1,200 to 1,400 pounds. They are either 
brown, bay, or black, and solid colors prevail. As 
to form, style, and action they resemble the French 
Coach to such an extent that, unless one is very fa- 
miliar with both breeds, he will not be able to distin- 
guish between individuals of each breed. The Ger- 
man Coach horse is somewhat larger and coarser, 
and does not possess as much quality, as the French 
Coach. Both breeds have been bred with the same 
type in mind, and as a result of this they do not 
differ greatly in appearance. 

Hackney. England is the home of the Hack- 
neys, where they have been bred pure for at least a 
century. They are one of the oldest carriage horse 
breeds. They are smaller than the French and Ger- 
man Coachers, being not over 15 hands 3 inches 
high, and weighing from 1,100 to 1,200 pounds. 



128 EI.EMENTS OP AGRICULTURE. 

They usually have solid colors, and are either bay 
or brown. The typical Hackney is extremely 
smooth, and has gracefully curved lines. The head 
is light and expressive, neck muscular and curved, 
])ut free from heaviness. Their bodies are cylindri- 
cal, compact, and short; and their quarters well 
muscled. Their legs are short, but of good quality, 
and. the tendons are clearly defined. As a breed 
they cannot be surpassed in grace and style of ac- 
tion. The front legs are thrown very high, and the 
feet appear to follow the edge of a circle in their 
course. They flex their hocks well, and carry them 
far forward. Their attractive appearance and ex- 
cessively high action are qualities that adapt them 
for city turnouts. As a breed, they have recently 
been very successful in winning prizes at the horse 
shows. 

Cleveland Bay. The Cleveland Bay is a breed 
which takes its name fi^om its native district in 
England. They are rangy, standing over 16 hands, 
and weighing from 1,300 to 1,500 pounds. The 
breed is very uniform in color, individuals being 
usually all bay, with black points. This is because 
they have been bred for years toward a uniformity 
of type. They have long, well-arched necks, short 
backs, and powerfully muscled hindquarters. They 
are one of the strongest breeds of light horses, but 
lack the style and action of the other carriage breeds. 
On account of their strong prepotency in color and 
type, they are valuable in crossing to produce match- 
ed teams of light farm horses. 



HORSES. 129 

The American Trotter. The American Trotter, 
as the name indicates, originated ,in the United 
States. The breed was established by the use of 
the Thoroughbred, and by care in selection and 
training for the trotting gait. They possess intelli- 
gent heads and light necks, low, deep chests, oblique 
shoulders, and long, muscular forearms. Their 
bodies are round, and light near the rear flank. 
They have long croups, full thighs, and bone of good 
quality. Their hocks are well defined, but often ill- 
shaped. They have been bred for endurance and 
speed at the trotting and pacing gaits, and size has 
frequently been sacrificed for fleetness, thus making 
them unfit for other than racing purposes. At the 
present time, more attention is being paid to size 
and style, and they are becoming better adapted for 
road use. 

The Thoroughbred. This word is often, but in- 
correctly, used in place of the term "pure bred" to 
designate that an animal of a particular breed is 
eligible to registration. We have pure bred cattle, 
but no thoroughbred cattle. The Thoroughbred 
horse belongs to a distinct breed, and has been se- 
lected for excellence in running. They are even 
more refined than the American Trotter. They are 
deep in the chest, but light of body, w^ith small, 
dense bone of the finest quality, and have every 
appearance of being built for speed. They have an 
active temperament, which is reflected in an erratic 
disposition. Their natural gait is running. Thor- 
oughbreds have been used in improving all of the 



130 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

breeds of light horses, and it is from this source that 
these strains get their active temperamentSo Ken- 
tucky is the American home of this breed. 

The American Saddle Horse. This breed was 
originated in the United States for the purpose of 
furnishing an easy riding and durable saddle horse. 
They were improved by the use of Thoroughbred 
blood, and by selecting for the qualities of a saddle^ 
horse. As a breed, they do not differ materially from 
the Trotter in appearance. They have more style 
about their heads and necks, and are larger and more 
muscular. They have a good quality of bone, and 
the tendons are well defined. They show a disposi- 
tion to learn the saddle gaits readily, — a feature not 
characteristic of the Trotter or Thoroughbred. 

THE DRAFT HORSE. 

A horse that conforms to this type must be 
broad, massive, and muscular. It should have a 
quality of bone to sustain the weight. A typical 
draft horse weighs over 1,750 pounds at maturity. 
The majority fail to attain this weight, and are class- 
ified on the market as expressers. Draft horses are 
in great demand in the cities for heavy hauling. 
They are produced from the following breeds; 
The Percheron, Clydesdale, Shire, Belgian, and Suf- 
folk Punch. 

Percherons. The Percheron breed is a native 
of France. Horses of this breed were formerly 
called Norman, but this name is no longer used. The 
prevailing colors are black aud gray. All Perch- 



132 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

erons were originally gray, but at the present time 
the majority of them are black. The Percherons are 
active, and stylish about the head and neck. They 
have deep, broad, and massive bodies. Their legs 
are often too light, compared with their bodies. 
Their cannons are not wide enough, i. e., too round, 
and the pasterns are too short and straight in many 
representatives of the breed. They are a very pop- 
ular draft breed with the farmer. 

Clydesdales. The Clydesdale breed was develop- 
ed in Scotland. They are usually brown, bay, black, 
or chestnut in color, with white markings. Hair 
springs from the back edges of their legs, and they 
are sometimes called "hairy legged horses." The 
head is usually intelligent, though sometimes out of 
proportion to the other parts of the body. The 
shoulders are sloping, giving the horse a free and 
easy action. The arm is well muscled, and the bone 
clean and flat, with a fine quality of hair springinf^ 
from the edge of the cannon. The improvers of this 
breed have paid considerable attention to pasterns 
and hoofheads. They should have long, sloping 
pasterns and large hoofheads. Clydesdales often 
lack depth of body, and are frequently too long in 
the coupling. Because of their legs and their su- 
perior action, they rank high as a draft breed. 

Shires. The Shires are native to England. 
They resembjc the Clydesdales in many points, and 
expert judges may not be able to distinguish be- 
tween them, providing the specimens of each breed 
inspected vary from the standard type. They have 



134 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

practically the same color markings as the Clydes- 
dales. The Shires are very deep, wide, and massive 
in form. Their quarters are heavy and w^ell mus- 
cled. They do not possess as good a quality of bone 
as the Clydesdale, but they are also known as a 
''hairy legged" breed. The hair tends to spring 
out around the leg, rather than from the edge of the 
Cannon bone, as is the case with the Clydesdales. 
The Shires may be criticised for the coarseness of 
their bones, for their short stubby pasterns and 
stilted action, and also for possessing a somewhat 
sluggish temperament. 

The Belgian Horse. The Belgian breed, as the 
name indicates, is native to Belgium. They are of 
various colors ; bay, brown, sorrel, and roan pre- 
dominate, but they are free from white markings. 
They have very neat heads, and well-nuiscled, high, 
and short-crested necks. Their bodies are wide, 
short and compact, appearing somewhat cylindrical 
in shape. They have well-muscled quarters and 
croups, but they often tend to be too sloping in the 
croups. The bone resembles the bone of the Perch- 
eron in many respects, being rather light for their 
body. The pasterns are not long and sloping 
enough, and the feet are rather small, and not of 
good quality. 

The Suffolk Punch. The Suffolk Punch is a 
British breed of horses, and has been bred so that 
it is exceptionally uniform in type. It is an old and 
well-established breed. They are chestnut in color, 
and the best representatives are deep bodied and 



HORSES. 135 

short legged. Their bone is of medium size, but it is 
clean and of good quality. They have a reputation 
for docile temperaments, and are steady workers*.' 
Many of them lack size, and are less adapted to 
heavy draft than to farm work. They resemble the 
Percherons in form, but they are lighter in weight. 
Their bone is of a much better quality than that of 
the Percheron. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
SHEEP. 

Origin and History. The origin of sheep is not 
definitely known. Sheep were domesticated in Asia 
and Europe before the dawn of liistory. They were 
unknown in America until after its discovery by 
Europeans. Sheep were introduced iuto North 
America by the Spaniards as early as the beginning; 
of the sixteenth century, and sheep of British origin 
were introduced into nearly all the English colonies 
very soon after their settlement. 

Classification. Sheep are sometimes classified 
as heavy breeds, down breeds, and mountain breeds, 
but it is more common to classify them with refer- 
ence to the character of their wool. On the basis of 
wool production, they are classified as fine wooled, 
medium wooled, and coarse wooled. The following 
are the fine wooled breeds in the order of the fine- 
ness of their wool, beginning with the finest. The 
American' Merino, Delaine Merino, and Rambouillet. 
The following are the medium wooled breeds in the 
order of the fineness of their wool, beginning with 
the finest: Southdown, Tunis, Dorset, Shropshire, 
Cheviot, Suffolk Down, Hampshire Down, and Ox- 
ford Down. The following are the coarse wooled 
breeds in the order of the fineness of their wool, be- 




Fig. 47. Yearling Southdown Ram "Knowlton Hero;" Cham- 
pion at the World's Fair and International 1904. Owned 
by Geo. McKerrow & Sons, Pewaukee, Wis. 




Fig. 48. Two Year Old Oxford Ram "Kelmscotoniah 51." 1st 
prize in 1904 at World's Fair and International. Owned by 
Geo. McKerrow & Sons, Pewaukee, Wis. 



/ 



138 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 



ginning with the finest: Leicester, Lincoln, and 
Cotswold. 

Rambouillet. (1) Origin and History. Ram- 
bouilJets are descended from the Spanish Merino. 




Fig. 49. 



Shearing Sheep by Machine at the North Dakota Agr^ 
cultural College. 



Their improvement has been made chiefly in France, 
and by reason of that fact they ar§ often spoken of 
as the French Merino. They are very popular on 
the western ranges of America, are found in nearly 
all the northern and middle states, and are meeting 
with some favor in the southern states. 

(2) General Appearance. The Rambouillets 
are large, somewhat rangy sheep, and not so 
wrinkled as the American Merino. They have more 
of the mutton form than the American Merino or 
the Delaine Merino, but their fleece is less dense. 



SHEEP. 



139 



(3) Adaptability. Rambouillets are adapted to 
a wide variation in soil and climate. They do very 
well on rich land, where the pasture is good, and 



Fig. 



50. Rambouillet Ram. Bred and owned 
Dakota Agricultural College. 



by the North 



are well adapted to range conditions, where the veg- 
etation is not too scanty. If well fed they fatten in 
good form. 

(4) Meat. The quality of the meat is good, but 
not equal to that of the Southdown and other strict- 
ly mutton breeds. 

(5) Wool. Their wool is longer and coarser 
than that of the American Merino, but the average 
weight of the fleece is not so heavy. 



140 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

Southdown. (1) Origin and History. The 

Southdown is a British breed. Tiieir improvement 
dates back to the year 1776, which makes them one 
of the oldest breeds. They are very popular in the 
United States and Canada. 

(2) General Appearance. The Southdowns are 
the smallest of the medium wooled breeds in Ameri- 
ca. They are low set and compact, weighing re- 
markably well for their size. Many of them are the 
ideal type of the mutton sheep. They have no horns, 
and their faces are brown or gray in color. The 
head is well wooled, but is not covered below the 
eyes. 

(3) Adaptability. Southdowns are adapted to 
rolling and hilly lands, where the pastures have a 
short, fine herbage. 

(4) Meat and Wool. The meat of the South- 
down ranks higher in quality than that of any other 
breed. They shear a rather light fleece of wool, 
which probably does not average heavier than five to 
seven pounds. 

Shropshire. (1) Origin and History. The 
Shropshire is also a British breed. They are de- 
scended from the common sheep of England. The 
Southdown, Cotswold, and Leicester breeds were 
used in improving them. They are one of the most 
popular breeds of sheep in America. 

(2) General Appearance. The Shropshires are 
considerably taller and longer than the Southdowns, 
and somewhat heavier. They have black faces and 



142 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

no horns. Their heads and faces should be covered 
with wool. 

(3) Adaptability. They are not particularly 
adapted to mountainous regions, but are reared ex- 
tensively in the fertile sections of the United, States. 
They graze fairly well, but require richer pastures 
than either the Southdown or the Merino. 

(4) Meat and Wool. The quality of their meat 
is nearly equal to that of the Southdown, and they 
furnish a larger quantity. They dress well in pro- 
portion to their live weight. Their wool is coarser 
than that of the Southdown, and the fleece is some- 
what heavier. The average weight of the fleece is 
nine or ten pounds. 

Lincoln. (1) Origin and History. The Lincoln 
is one of the coarse wooled breeds. It originated in 
England. The Lincolns are descended from an old 
English breed which has carried that name for many 
years. The Leicester breed was used in improving 
the Lincoln, but their greatest improvement came 
through proper care and selection. 

(2) General Appearance. The Lincolns have 
large, massive forms. They are the heaviest of all 
the breeds of sheep, their weight ranging from two 
hundred twenty-five to three hundred pounds. They 
have white faces and legs, and are free from wool 
on these parts. 

(3) Adaptability. The Lincolns are adapted to 
low, level lands, where the pastures are good, and 
where plenty pf grass can be produced. 



SHEEP. 143 

(4) Meat and Wool. They furnish a large 
amount of meat, which is of fairly good quality, but 
not equal to that of the Southdown. Their fleeces 
are long and coarse, and weigh from twelve to four- 
teen pounds. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
SWINE. 

Origin and History. Swine were found in a 
wild state on every continent except Australia. 
They have been domesticated in the old world since 
prehistoric times. Most of the breeds originated in 
Great Britain and the United States. 

-Classification. Swine are classified on the basis 
of color, bacon producing qualities, and size. With 
reference to their size they are classified as large, 
medium, and small. The following are the large 
breeds in the order of their size, beginning with the 
largest: Chester White, Improved Yorkshire, and 
Tamworth. The following are the medium breeds in 
the order of their size, beginning with the largest: 
Berkshire, Poland China, Victoria, Duroc Jersey, and 
Cheshire. The following are the small breeds in the 
order of their size, beginning with the largest : Suf- 
folk, Essex, and Small Yorkshire. The red breeds 
are the Tamworth and Duroc Jersey. The black 
breeds are the Poland China, Berkshire, and Essex. 
The remaining ones are white. 

Chester White. The Chester Whites originated 
in Pennsylvania, and are now widely distributed 
in the United States and Canada. They are probably 
the largest of all the breeds of hogs. As their name 



146 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

indicates, their color is white. Their meat is of good 
quality, but they do not dress as large a percentage 
as some breeds, because they are somewhat coarse 
boned. This breed is quite prolific. 

Berkshires. The Berkshire is a British breed, 
and is very popular, not only in Great Britain, but 
in the United States and Canada. They are about 
the size of the Poland China, but are longer bodied. 
Their color is black, but they have white on the legs, 
a splash of white in their face, and white tail tips. 
They have a short, dished face and a fine upstand- 
ing ear. The quality of meat is good, and they dress 
well in proportion to their live weight. 

Poland Chinas. The Poland China breed origi- 
nated in Ohio. In the western and northwestern 
states they are more popular than any other breed. 
They mature very young, fatten readily at almost 
any age, and their meat usually contains a large 
amount of fat in proportion to the lean. Their color 
is nearly like that of the Berkshire, but they are 
more compact in form, and have drooping ears. 

Duroc Jerseys. This breed originated in New 
York and New Jersey, and is gaining in popularity 
throughout the United States. Duroc Jerseys are 
red in color, and in form they resemble the Poland 
Chinas. They are probably a little coarser in bone 
than the Poland Chinas. 

Large Improved Yorkshires. The Large Im- 
proved Yorkshire was introduced into this country 
from England. They are of the bacon type, and are 



SWINE. 147 

strong boned and long bodied. The meat is excel- 
lent in quality. They are bred extensively in Can- 
ada and the northwest, where less corn is fed than in 
the corn belt. Their color is white, and the face 
dished. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

PLANT AND ANIMAL BREEDING. 

Heredity. The expressions ''lil^e produces lil-?:e" 
and "a chip out of the old block" are older than hu- 
man history, and indicate that people living cen- 
turies ago recognized the subtle principle of heredity 
as one of the laws of the universe. This law has 
more commonly been regarded as applicable to the 
animal world and to the human family, but the ex- 
pression: "Do men gather grapes from thorns or 
figs from thistles ? ' ' indicates that people living twen- 
ty centuries ago applied the principle to plant pro- 
duction. ■ Fife seed wheat produces Fife plants, Blue 
Stem seed produces Blue Stem plants, while Durum 
or Macaroni seed wheat always produces that heav- 
ily bearded sort. The hereditary principle has been 
found to apply to three classes of traits in animals: 
(1) Ordinary or natural characters or traits; (2) 
acquired characters or traits; (3) abnormal charac- 
ters or traits. 

(1) Natural Traits. Natural traits are repre- 
sented by such features as size, form, and color in 
plants and animals, and by complexion and pecul- 
iarities of mind in men. Examples are, light and 
dark complexioned families, families of athletes, 
families of musicians, families of orators, and §o on. 



•Sr 






Fig. 53. Samples of Flax. From a photograph showing the ex- 
tremes in length of flax produced in the North Dakota Ex- 
periment Station Nursery of Plant Breeding. Flax samples, 
320 and 162, each consist of three representative plants, and 
each plant has sixteen square inches of soil to grow in. 



150 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

(2) Acquired Traits. Acquired traits are those 
which men and animals learn and later transmit to 
their offspring. Examples are, the setting of birds 
by bird dogs, the herding of stock by shepherd dogs, 
and the gait of the trotting horse. The wild ances- 
tors of these animals had none of the habits which 
their progeny have since learned, and now regularly 
inherit. 

(3) Abnormal Traits. Examples of abnormal 
traits are represented by the following: A white 
lock of hair on a dark head, hare lips, and the fan- 
tailed breeds of pigeons. 

Atavism. An offspring frequently resembles a 
grandparent or some ancestor even more remote. 
This principle has been recognized for centuries, and 
common experience teaches that it can regularly be 
traced back four and five, and occasionally for ten 
or more generations. 

Variation. This is the third general law of he- 
redity. The first law proclaims that like produces 
like. The second (avatism) that this law or princi- 
ple may allow grandparents, great-grandparents and 
great-great-grandparents partially to govern the ap- 
pearance of their offspring. The third principle (va- 
riation) virtually says like produces unlike. A mo- 
ment's thought will convince every observing per- 
son that each of these propositions is correct. Like 
produces like, but not quite alike. White men re- 
semble each other more than they do Chinamen ; and 
yet among your acquaintances, numbering hundreds 
of white persons, you can call each by name, and 
make no mistake as to his identity. Calves look 



PLANT AND ANIMAL BREEDING. 151 

alike, colts resemble each other, wheat plants are 
similar in appearance ; but any one can soon learn to 
distinguish one from the other. If they were ex- 
actly alike, that would be impossible. The fact or 
law of variation brings constant differences, — a fact 
which allows the breeder to select the individual 
which has varied from its family type in the desired 
direction. The law that like produces like allows 
the breeder to fix the type in a few generations so 
that it will be reproduced. 

Pedigrees. The dictionary definition of a pedi- 
gree states that it is the history of the ancestors of an 
animal. Stock men generally require a pedigree to 
guarantee that the animal is a pure bred, and a recog- 
nized individual of an established breed. If the law 
of atavism is to be considered by the breeder, the 
pedigree, as a description of the ancestors, must 
form the basis for his judgment. The pedigree guar- 
antees to the breeder that his animal is pure in blood, 
and that its offspring may resemble its remote an- 
cestry, and still be high-class individuals of the breed 
and family which he is keeping. 

The Practices of Animal Breeding. Live-stock 
breeders follow many rules which are based upon 
their experience, and, while they are important, it is 
not within the province of this book to discuss them. 
Such practices as cross breeding, in and in breeding, 
line breeding, and grade breeding have been studied 
until fairly stable laws of cause and effect have been 
worked out. The number of pure bred animals in 
the world! is too scarce to supply the demand for 



152 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

meat, dairy, and work producing stock, hence grade 
animals must constitute the flocks and herds of the 
world for many years to come. By reason of the 
governing principles or laws given in this chapter, 
pure bred sires only should be used, as they govern 
the valuable features in animal production much 
more closely than grade parents can do. Choose 
among the breeds which are adapted to the purpose 
for which you propose to keep live stock. If you 
want to grow beef cattle, for example, choose among 
Shorthorns, Herefords, Aberdeen Angus, and Gallo- 
ways. If you want a dual or general purpose herd, 
choose the dual purpose breed best adapted to your 
conditions. When you have settled upon a breed, 
stick to it unless you find that, you have made a 
decided mistake. As soon as your herd is large 
enough to warrant cutting down, cull out the poorer 
individuals, so that your herd or flock will constant- 
ly improve. 

The Practices of Plant Breeders. Select the va- 
riety of wheat, oats, barley, or other class of plants 
which suits your conditions ; for example, Fife, Blue 
Stem, or Durum wheat. When a variety has been 
decided upon, get the best strain of it for your sec- 
tion of country which can be found. Get one which 
has given a good grade and a good yield for as many 
generations as possible. See the field that your seed 
grain is to come from if you can possibly do so, as 
there you can learn whether the plants are uniform, 
the height they attain, the stiffness of straw, how 
the chaff holds, and many other points which cannot 



PLANT AND ANIMAL BREEDING. 



153 



t^^ 







Fig. 54. Three different types of flax plants. Produced by the 
breeding work of the Noi:th Dakota Experiment Station 
All of the plants were given the same growth conditions 
and treatment. 



154 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

be gleaned from an inspection of the cleaned grain. 
Corn selected in the field allows the use of judgment 
upon the entire plant, and not upon the ear alone. 
Many a good ear of com is borne so low upon the 
stalk as to lack value when compared with other 
ears of similar form, size, weight, and proportion. 
After ears of seed corn have been chosen from the 
field, sort them over, throwing out the poorer ones, 
until a uniformly high-grade sample remains. 
Wheat, oats, barley, and flax should be run through 
a fanning mill until the smaller and lighter kernels 
are removed, as that will leave the largest and 
heaviest kernels from the best plants. Wheat, oats, 
or barley seed, thrown twenty feet or more from the 
open palm, will be graded to quite an extent by the 
distance which it will carry, as the heavier kernels 
will fly considerably farther than the lighter ones. 
This operation, carried out upon the barn floor, has 
a decided selective advantage, and will well repay 
the owner for his trouble. 



CHAPTER XX. 

FEEDS AND FEEDING. 

Animal life is dependent either directly or indi- 
rectly upon plant life for its food. Some kinds of 
plants are particularly adapted to nourish a certain 
class of animals, just as some kinds of soil are adapt- 
ed to produce certain plants. The reason why all 
plants and the feeds derived from them are not suit- 
able to feed all classes of animals is largely because 
the digestive tracts differ materially. 

The Mouth. Horses and hogs have teeth on 
both the upper and lower jaw. Cattle and sheep 
have forward or incisor teeth on the lower jaw 
only. 

Digestion in the Mouth. It is in the mouth that 
the first process of digestion takes place. The food 
is reduced to fineness by the molar teeth, with the 
assistance of the lips and tongue. It is at the same 
time thoroughly mixed with saliva, which is secreted 
by the salivary glands located in the walls of the 
mouth cavity. This alkaline secretion changes the 
starch and woody fiber of the food into sugar, and 
what remains is acted on farther along in the diges- 
tive tract. 

Stomach. The stomachs of farm animals differ 
in form, capacity, and function within certain limits. 



156 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

The stomach of a cow of ordinary size holds more 
than two barrels. The stomach of the cow is in size 
about eight times that of the sheep, fourteen times 
that of the horse, and thirty-one times that of the 
hog. This is why the cow can eat so much more 
roughage than the horse. Horses and hogs have sin- 
gle stomachs, while the stomachs of cows and sheep 
are divided into four compartments. These are 
known as the first, second, third, and fourth stom- 
achs, respectively. Starch and woody fiber are di- 
gested froin the time the food is moistened in the 
mouth until it reaches the fourth stomach. The first 
three stomachs really perform much the same office 
as the mouth. The first stomach of cattle and sheep 
is simply a large sack into which the half-chewed 
food is dropped. This food is returned to the mouth 
for a second chewing. The second stomach is used as 
* a sort of "catch all" for gravel, pieces of nails, etc., 
which would injure the walls of the other stomachs. 
It has a very thick wall, an'd really has little part in 
digestion. The third stomach receives the finely 
chewed food which is swallowed after the second 
chewing. This stomach has a great number of folds, 
so that the food is rubbed considerably by its walls. 
It is in the fourth stomach that the protein is digested. 

Digestion in the Stomach. The important work 
that takes place in the stomach is that performed by 
the gastric juice, which is secreted by the gastric 
glands. The gastric juice is acid, and has the ability 
to change proteid substances into a soluble form. 

Digestion in the Intestines. The food passes from 



FEEDS AND FEEDING. 157 

the stomach into the intestines, where it is mixed 
with the bile and pancreatic juice. These act on the 
fatty portions of the food, which they change into an 
emulsion that readily passes through the walls of the 
intestines to be distributed to all parts of the body. 

Digestibility of Food. Foods differ much, not 
only in their chemical composition, but in their 
digestibility. Some of the things that most commonly 
affect the digestibility of feeding stuff's are: Palata- 
bility, degree of ripeness, wetting, soaking, cooking, 
grinding, and curing. 

Palatability. Palatability, or an agreeable taste, 
causes more effective digestion by increasing the 
flow of saliva and other digestive juices. An animal 
will eat more, and grow faster, if its food is clean 
and has an agreeable taste. 

Wetting-. Wetting or moistening food has little 
effect upon its digestibility, except when it causes 
more thorough chewing of the food eaten. Shorts 
or meal, when moistened, become more palatable for 
hogs ; but in a number of Experiment Station trials, 
cows fed ground wheat and bran in slop gave less 
milk and butter than those fed dry food of the same 
kind and quantity. 

Soaking Feed. Corn sometimes becomes so hard 
and flinty several months after husking that it is 
hard for animals to chew it well. Under such cir- 
cumstances it is benefited by soaking ; otherwise not. 
In soaking grain, care should be taken not to allow it 
to sour, as souring always results in a loss of starch 
and sugar from the food. Barley, wheat, and rye 



158 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

can usually be soaked for hogs to advantage, proba- 
bly because it enables tliem to chew it better. 

Cooking Feed. About fifty years ago, a number 
of stockmen put in systems for cooking and steaming 
feed for cattle, but the practice is not common today. 
Trials by chemists show that it makes the most valu- 
able part of the hay (protein) less digestible to steam 
or cook it. Potatoes should be cooked for hogs. 
For horses, cooked food once a week or a little often- 
er, tends to keep their bowels open, and the animal 
in good thrift. Cooking feed for them daily is not 
advisable, however. Cooked fo^d is good in thjp 
half-medicinal way for all classes of animals, as an 
occasional ration. 

Grinding Grain. Only animals with poor teeth, 
or those worked extremely hard, such as the hard- 
worked horse and the heavy-milking cow, need their 
feed ground. Hogs and fatting steers can be crowd- 
ed a little faster with ground feed. Trials with seven- 
ty pigs in feeding whole corn as compared with corn- 
meal show that four hundred and fifty-nine pounds 
of cornmeal and middlings equaled four hundred and 
ninety-nine pounds of whole corn and middlings, or a 
saving of eight per cent, from grinding. Corn and 
cob ground together gave almost as good results for 
the corn and cob weights as for pure cornmeal. 

Curing Hay and Fodder. Trials show that grass 
dried without rain or dew and without heating is just 
as digestible as it was when green. There is often a 
heavy loss from the rain washing out the most valua- 
ble and digestible portions, and from heating and 



FEEDS AND FEEDING. 



159 



molding. Sometimes the leaves break up, rattle off, 
and blow away, which causes a great loss in weight, 
and also a loss of the most digestible portion of the 
food. 

Degree of Ripeness. The hay grasses become less 
digestible from the time of blossoming until fully 
ripe, partly because of the increase of woody fiber, 
and partly because of poorer flavor. Indian corn, 
on the contrary, becomes more digestible as it ripens. 
The following table shows the amount of water and 
dry matter in a corn crop at different periods after 
tasseling : 



Date of 
Cutting 



July 30 
Aug. 9 
Aug. 21 

Sept. 7 
Sept. 23 



Stage of Growth 



Fully tasseled. 
Fully silked... 
Kernels watery 

full milk 

Kernels glazing. 
Ripe 



to 



Corn per 
Acre, 
Tons 



9.00 
12.9 

16.3 
16.1 

14.2 



Water per 
Acre, 
Tons 



8.2 
11.5 
14.0 

12.5 
10.2 



Dry Matter 

per Acre, 

Tons 



1.5 
2.3 

3.6 
4.0 



From the above table, which represents a trial 
made by Professor Ladd, of the North Dakota Sta- 
tion, it will be seen that corn which had silked had 
practically twice as much dry matter per acre as it 
had when first tasseled. When in the milk, it con- 
tained almost three times as much dry matter as 
when in the tassel. When glazing, it had more than 
four times as much dry matter per acre as it had 
when it was tasseled. When ripe, it contained just 
five times as much dry matter as it did when in the 
tasseling stage. 

Corn Fodder and Stover. It is common to speak 



160 F.r.T^MENTS OF AGRICULTTTRE. 

of the corn stalk, fi-oin Avhich the ear has been re- 
moved, as corn stovei*. When the ear is inchided, it 
is called corn fodder. Both are valuable for feeding 
stock. When stover is fed, it w^ill usually be found 
advisable to feed some concentrated food. 

Forage Crops. A. forage crop is a crop that is 
allowed to grow for a considerable length of time 
before pasturing. It is usually allowed to approach 
maturity before being used for pasture. Among our 
best forage crops are : Indian corn, sorghum, clover, 
peas, rape, oats, and millet. The following is a very 
good combination to sow as a forage crop for hogs : 
Two bushels of oats, one bushel of peas, and two 
pounds of rape seed. 

Soiling Crops. A soiling crop is one that is al- 
lowed to grow for a time, usually until nearing ma- 
turity, at which time it is cut and fed to live stock. 
Indian corn, peas, and rape make good soiling crops. 

Ensilage. When a crop is cut green and stored 
in a silo, it is called ensilage or silage. Corn is used 
for ensilage more than any other crop. A silo is 
usually a tall, strong building, made of brick, stone, 
or wood, and having air-tight walls. The corn is cut 
fine, and packed so close in the silo that air does 
not penetrate readily more than a foot beneath the 
surface. Ensilage sours some, but does not decay if 
the conditions are right. If the corn is cut too 
green, it should be allowed to wilt before being put 
into the silo. If this is not done, the ensilage is 
likely to be too sour. On the other hand, when the 
corn is not cut until almost ripe, it is well to sprinkle 



FEEDS AND FEEDING. 



161 




^- ¥ 




Fig. 55. Silo. On the farm of A. T. Bu 



dlong-. <il,.n\-i]le, ilinii. 



162 



ET.EMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 



it with water as it is being placed in the pit, other- 
wise it may rot. Ensilao^e is, an excellent feed for 




Fig. '56. Cattle Barn and Silo. At the North Dakota Agn- 
cultural College. 

dairy cows. For other classes of live stock it may 
not pay to build a silo. 

Medicinal Stock Foods. There are many brands 
of condimental* stock food on the market, which are 
advertised as wonders in the way of keeping animals 
in good health and causing them to fatten. These 
foods are always sold at a high price as compared 
with ordinary feed, and those who have investigated 
the matter say that they have no special merit for 
feeding healthy live stock. Most of the so-called 
stock foods are simply good food, sold at a very high 
price. 

*See pages 229 and 230 of "Feeds and Feeding," by W. A, 
Henry. 



FEEDS AND FEEDING. 163 

Kinds of Material in Feed. The important con- 
stituents in feed from the standpoint of the feeder are 
protein, carbohydrates, and fat or ether extract. 

(1) Protein. Protein is the part of the food 
which is used by the animal in forming muscle, liga- 
ments, hair, skin, and the cheesy part of milk, and 
it can be used to keep the animal warm, to do work, 
and to produce fat. The white of an egg, lean meat, 
and the gluten of wheat are examples of almost a pure 
protein. 

(2) Carbohydrates. Carbohydrates consist of 
starch, sugar, and the digestible woody fiber of 
plants. Carbohydrates can be used by the animal to 
keep him warm, to do work, and to form fat. 

(3) Fat or Ether Extract. Fat in food can form 
fat in the animal, it can be used as fuel to keep him 
warm, or it can be used to produce work. Fat is 
used for the same purposes by the animal as are the 
carbohydrates, but its feeding value per pound is 
considered to be two and two-fifths times that of 
starch. When a pound of oil is burned for fuel, it 
produces two and two-fifths times as much heat as a 
pound of sugar or a pound of woody fiber. 

Balanced Rations. Protein, carbohydrates, and 
ether extract occur in all food substances, but in 
difi'erent proportions, and the amount which is digest- 
ible differs in different food substances, which facts 
cause the difference in value of the diff'erent grain 
and forage materials used by the feeder. Of these 
three digestible materials, protein is the most expen- 
sive, and is necessary in every ration. No muscle 
can be formed or repaired without it. Hair, wool, 



164 



ET.EMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 



skin, hoofs, nails, and feathers are all formed largely 
from protein, and cannot be made by the animal 
without this material. For feeding animals, there 
are right proportions of the three digestible sub- 
stances, — protein, carbohydrates, and fat. The ratio 
is narrow when there is a small relative amount of 
fat and carbohydrates to protein. When the re- 
verse is true, the ratio is wide. One pound of pro- 
tein to five of carbohydrates and fat is quite a nar- 
row ratio ; and one pound of protein to ten or twelve 
of carbohydrates and fat is a wide ratio. In figur- 
ing the ratio, the pounds of fat are multiplied by two 
and four-tenths, and added to the carbohydrates. 
The reason for this is explained above. Milch cows, 
fattening stock, and work horses do best on a nar- 
row ratio, and stock that is not being fattened or 
worked may be fed a wide ratio. This is shown 
in the following table, which gives the results of ac- 
tual trials: 



FEEDING STUFFS 



Ox at complete rest in stall 
Fattening- cattle (first 

period) 

Milch cow (yielding 22 lbs. 

daily) 

Horse (medium work) 













,o 


tw 




s 


a)J 


o ^ 


CP ' 7} 


a 




at'^. 


Sfin 


r^ 


^S 


Ill 


In 




bCO 


bo^ci 


fcc^ ^ 










QJ 


a^ 


Sq-S 


SwS 


18 


0.7 


8.0 


0.1 


30.0 


25 


15.0 


0.5 


29.0 


2.5 


13.0 


0.5 


24.0 


2.0 


11.0 


0.6 






1:11.8 
1:6.5 



1:5.7 
1:6.2 



In order to furnish any of these nutrients in the 
amounts given in the table, it is necessary to use 
several kinds of feed. 

The following table shows a ration worked out 



FEEDS AND FEEDING. 



165 



for the rapid fattening of a steer during the first 
feeding period (weight 1,000 lbs.) : 



FEEDING STUFFS 






c/5 

Ill 

q8^ 


Mi 

111 


> 

Is 

^P5 


Corn stover, 10 lbs 


5.95 

7.26 

10.73 

3.63 


.17 

.10 

.94 

1.17 


3.24 
3.09 
8.00 
1.31. 


.07 
.06 

.52 
.28 




Oat straw, 6 lbs 




Corn, 12 lbs 




Oil meal, 4 lbs 








Trial ration ,... 


27.57 


2.38 


15.64 


.93 


1:7.5 






Wolff-Lehmann Standard. 


30.00 


2.5 


15.0 


.50 


1:6.5 



The ration worked out above corresponds very 
closely with the Wolff-Lehmann standard in the most 
important nutrients, — ^protein and carbohydrates. 
In order to work out a ration it is necessary to have 
at hand a table giving the digestible nutrients of the 
different feeds. Space will not permit the insertion 
of such a table in this book, but it can be found in 
such books as Henry's "Feeds and Feeding," and 
Jordan's "The Feeding of Animals." 

The standard requirements have been worked 
out experimentally, and they serve as guides, but it 
would be impracticable to follow them absolutely. 
The farmer is obliged to use his judgment in prac- 
tical feeding. The price at which the different feed 
stuffs can be bought in diff'erent localities and at 
different times must be taken into consideration in 
working out a ration that can be fed economically. 
As a rule, the narrow ratio includes feeds that are 
more expensive than those used in the wide ratio. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

CABE AND MANAGEMENT OF LIVE STOCK. 

Why Good Care Is Necessary. While care and 
management are prerequisites in all branches of 
agriculture, they are perhaps nowhere so essential as 
in stock raising. Farm animals are entirely de- 
pendent on the provisions made for them by man, 
and, in the course of domestication, they have large- 
ly lost those qualities which enabled their ancestors 
to survive under adverse conditions. Successful 
stock growing involves the principles by which ani- 
mals are maintained in good condition, and all those 
by which aijimal production can be made profitable. 

Sanitary Feeding*. Food which has nutritive 
value may be i30ssessed of other qualities which ren- 
der it unfit for use. Good food should be free from 
foreign material. Hay must be well cured and free 
from molds to be wholesome. Molds are the cause 
of "musty" hay. Such hay is not palatable, and the 
molds and fungi in it are often poisonous. Horses 
are especially liable to become diseased after eating 
moldy feed. Hrj should also be free from dust, as 
the breathing in of the dust particles is apt to 
irritate the air passages of the animals. The feeder 
should be alert to avoid poisonous plants in the for- 
age given to his stock. 



CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF LIVE STOCK. 167 

Feeding Grain. Overfeeding and the feeding of 
unri2:)e grain should be avoided. Immature grain is 
hard to digest, and too much grain overworks the 
digestive system. Digested food retained in the ali- 
mentary tract as a result of overfeeding will under- 
go fermentation, which process is often followed by 
digestive disturbances of the most serious nature. 

Pasture. Especial care should be exercised when 
cattle and sheep are turned on rape, green clover, 
and alfalfa pastures. The feeding of even moderate 
quantities of these foodstuffs is apt to produce a con- 
dition known as bloat, which is caused by the rapid 
fermentation of the forage in the first compartment 
of the stomach. Such accidents are more apt to oc- 
cur when animals accustomed to a dry diet are sud- 
denly turned into pasture, and when they are turned 
upon such pasture after a dew or a rain. When such 
forage crops are to be used, it is advisable to make 
the change from dry to green food a gradual one. 

Daily Ration. The daily ration of food should be 
given to live stock in two or more feeds, in order to 
obtain the best digestion. If all the food is given at 
one meal, the stomach is apt to become overloaded, 
and some of the food may pass on without being di- 
gested at all. Three meals a day is perhaps the 
most advisable distribution of the daily food supply. 
In fattening animals, however, food is often kept be- 
fore them continually without apparent bad results, 
but the waste of material in such cases is consider- 
able. Care should be exercised in giving concen- 
trated food stuffs to horses when they are tired. 



168 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

Severe muscular effort naturally brings about more 
or less depression of some of the vital functions, and 
gastric depression may participate in this to such an 
extent as to cause the stomach to be unable to per- 
form its worb in the usual manner. It is always 
better to feed a tired horse its hay ration first, and 
postpone the grain feeding until rest has restored 
the vital activity of the digestive apparatus. 

Water. As seventy per cent, of the animal body 
is composed of water, all kinds of stock should have 
constant access to it. Water is important, not only 
as a component part of the body, but it is also the 
medium of exchange by which the process of life 
known as metabolism is made possible. No pains 
should be spared to provide animals with pure water. 
Good water should be clean, colorless, free from 
odor, and soft or very moderately hard. It should 
not be contaminated with sewage or stable drain- 
age, — in fact there should be a total absence of or- 
ganic material. Contagious diseases are often trans- 
mitted through the water supply, and, when such 
diseases occur, special care should be exercised to 
prevent the contamination of the drinking water. 

In a number of parasitic diseases the trouble can 
be traced to the water, as the eggs and embryos 
of parasites are apt to contaminate it. Liver flukes 
in cattle and sheep, and the tapeworm disease of 
sheep, are very commonly transmitted by means of 
the drinking water. Immature parasitic forms fre- 
quently inhabit ponds of stagnant water, and hay 



CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF LIVE STOCK. 169 

collected from the vicinity of such pools should be 
looked upon with suspicion. 

Time of Watering. The best practice is to allow 
animals access to water at all times. In the case of 
working horses, such a plan is impracticable, but 
water should be offered to them at regular intervals. 
Horses are usually watered at meal times, and the 
question has been asked : ' ' Must horses be watered 
before or after eating?" Experience has taught 
that it makes little difference when water is given, 
especially when the animals become accustomed to a 
certain manner of watering. To the writers, it seems 
advisable to offer water before as well as after eat- 
ing; but when a horse is fed on a heavy ration of 
food which will ferment easily, some time should 
elapse after feeding before water is given. During 
cold weather, water of too low a temperature should 
be avoided; and in watering horses when they are 
hot from hard work, care should be taken to prevent 
them from overloading their digestive tracts with 
cold water, as this frequently injures the animal. 

Salt. Another necessity to animal life is a supply 
of salt. Most food stuffs contain a certain per- 
centage of this substance, especially those which are 
grown on a soil containing salt in large proportion. 
In many food stuffs the percentage of salt is not suffi- 
cient, and the attendant is forced to provide salt for 
the live stock aside from their regular diet. This is 
best done by giving them access to pieces of rock 
salt. Salt may be placed in the feeding trough or 
in the pastures, that the animals may avail them- 



170 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

selves of it whenever they feel inclined to do so. 
Besides being an absolute necessity to the body 
economy, salt constitutes a condiment which enlivens 
the appetite, stimulates the secretions, and preserves 
a desirable condition of the bowels. 

Care of Stable. Next in importance to the food 
and water supply comes the stable and its care. 
Stables should be built on sites which have a good 
natural drainage, and, where this is impossible, on 
land which has artificial drainage. Stable drainage 
is a prerequisite for good sanitary conditions, and 
should always be the first consideration in building 
barns, corrals, and other structures for the care of 
live stock. 

Drainag-e and Ventilation of Stable. The floors 
of the stable should alw^ays be some distance above 
the ground, water tight, and provided with gutters 
to carry off the liquid excrement. There should be 
ample air space in every stable, and the air con- 
tained therein should be kept pure by a constant 
exchange with the fresh air from outside. Tuber- 
culosis is much more prevalent among animals housed 
in close and ill-ventilated stables than it is where an 
abundant supply of fresh air is provided. This dis- 
ease is seldom found in cattle that live continually 
in the open air. A stable should have plenty of 
windows which admit direct sunlight, as this is an 
important factor in the destruction of harmful 
bacteria. 

Cleanliness. In caring for a stable, cleanliness 
must always be given first consideration, the soiled 



CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF LIVE STOCK. 171 

bedding and droppings of the animals should be re- 
moved daily, as their decomposition gives rise to 
harmful gases, while their presence is by no means 
conducive to sanitary conditions. Cleanliness should 
not be confined to the stable floor, as the mangers 
and feed boxes should also be cleaned regularly. 
It will be found advantageous to construct the lat- 
ter so that they may be removed occasionally, to 
make a thorough cleaning possible. Cleanliness in 
animal quarters is of great importance, and it should 
always be applied; to the hog pens, as well as to 
horse and cattle stables. The idea that swine thrive 
better among filthy surroundings is highly erroneous. 
Hogs kept under clean and sanitary conditions are 
less liable to disease, and are more thrifty, than when 
the surroundings are filthy. In managing poultry 
houses, special attention should be paid to keeping 
the premises free from the parasites which infest 
domestic fowls, and which frequently make poultry 
raising highly unprofitable. This is best accom- 
plished by the frequent removal of old litter, and by 
an occasional application of whitewash which con- 
tains some disinfectant. 

Cleanliness of Animals. Cleanliness of the animal 
itself is of the greatest importance. Grooming con- 
sists in the removal of dirt, dust, loose hair, and the 
dead portions of the epidermis; and besides, the 
friction necessary to accomplish the desired result 
stimulates the action of the skin. As the coat be- 
comes loosened through the use of the brush, it af- 
fords a greater protection against cold and wet 



172 KLEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

weather. The use of the brush for grooming is to be 
recommended, while the use of the curry comb 
should generally be restricted to the cleaning of the 
brush. Washing horses is not commonly necessary, 
and should be avoided as far as possible, as it has a 
tendency to soften the skin, and sometimes gives rise 
to diseased conditions of it. There is also danger 
from the chilling which will result from Avashing. 
Grooming is usually confined entirely to horses, but 
other animals are* benefited by the same measures of 
cleanliness. It is impossible to brush and clean 
large herds of beef animals, but dhiry cows may and 
should be cleaned regularly. Not only will cows 
be more thrifty when properly groomed, but the 
milk from them will in consequence be much cleaner 
and more wholesome. 

BJanketing" and Bedding Live Stock. Under or- 
dinary circumstances, farm animals are not in need 
of clothing, but in some cases it is well to provide 
horses with blankets. When a horse is tied out in 
the cold after severe muscular exertion, it is well to 
provid^e it with a heavy blanket. Animals kept in 
stables should always be provided with an abundance 
of good bedding, the soiled portion of which should 
be removed at least once a day. Good bedding adds 
to the comfort of the animals, absorbs moisture, and 
prevents the blemishes produced by animals resting 
on hard or uneven floors. 

Care of the Feet. In horses, the en re of the feet 
is of the utmost importance. Road and work horses 
should be regularly shod, and when this is unneces- 



CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF LIVE STOCJ<:. 173 

sary, owing to local conditions, the feet should be ex- 
amined frequently, and all foreign bodies removed. 
This is best done when the animal is being groomed. 
In shoeing a horse, make the shoe fit the hoof. 
Many farriers practically fit the foot to the shoe, a 
process which usually requires so great an amount of 
trimming as to weaken the foot and give rise to 
lameness and malformations. The trimming should 
be confined to the bearing edge of the wall and to 
the dead horn. Under no circumstances should the 
frog and bars be pared. Rasping the outside of the 
wall is a bad practice, as it weakens it and makes it 
liable to become dry and brittle. The bearing sur- 
face of the shoe should be level, and in contact at 
every point with the corresponding surface of the 
wall. 

Fit the Work to the Animal. Tn working a horse, 
see that it is fit for the labor which it is expected to 
perform. The use of a light harness or saddle horse 
for heavy draft purposes is usually as unprofitable 
as breeding Jersey cattle for beef purposes. We 
must select animals which are physically fit for the 
service which they are to render. Next in impor- 
tance is the amount of labor to be performed by 
animals. Overwork tells on a horse the same as it 
does on a man, and the many forms of unsoundness 
so commonly seen in the limbs of horses bear mute 
testimony of this fact. While too great an amount 
of work or too heavy labor is always apt to injure 
an animal, the danger is most potent when it per- 
tains to young horses which are being worked before 



174 ELEMENTS OP AGRICULTURE. 

they have reached their full development. Before 
that time, the skeleton is more or less plastic, and 
too heavy a strain is apt to result in bone and joint 
diseases, such as splints, ringbones, and spavins. 

Fit the Food to the Work. In caring for work 
horses the amount of food should correspond to the 
amount of labor performed. An animal will not be 
able to do hard work with an inadequate food sup- 
ply, while one at rest will, if given an oversupply of 
food, be exposed to harmful consequences. 

Exercise. The idle horse should have a certain 
amount of exercise to maintain good health. The 
above statement pertains to all farm animals, and is 
of special importance in the case of dairy cows and 
swine. It is usually sufficient to give the animals an 
opportunity to move about in a roomy lot or pasture. 

Kind Treatment. In handling farm animals al- 
ways bear in mind that they are entitled to kind and 
humane treatment, and that such treatment is always 
profitable to their owners. Animals should be ac- 
customed to being handled, and to coming in con- 
tact with human beings at as early an age as possible. 
Young animals will soon become used to man, and, 
when they are once convinced that no harm is in- 
tended, a great advantage is gained, as beasts so 
treated tend to be gentle, and give us little trouble in 
handling them when they are older. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

DAIRYING. 

Care of the Cow. The dairy cow should be well 
fed, and have access to water and salt at all times. 
Ventilate the stable as much as possible without 
making it too cold. Keep both the cow and her 
stable clean. The udder should be perfectly clean 
before milking. Milk regularly, rapidly, and thor- 
oughly, and avoid a frequent change of milkers. 

Milk Yield. A good cow should milk at least ten 
months in the year, and during that time she should 
give from five to eight thousand pounds of average 
milk. An inferior cow is very poor property, and 
should be disposed of as soon as convenient. 

Composition of Milk. One hundred pounds of 
average milk contains about eighty-seven and a half 
pounds of water, three and a half pounds of fat, the 
remainder being other solids, such as casein, ash, and 
sugar. The fat in milk varies from two to eight 
per cent. Cow's milk is considered very rich when 
it gives a test of five per cent. fat. 

Care of Milking- Utensils. The pail, strainer, 
and other milking utensils should always be kept 
perfectly clean. In order to keep them clean it^ is 
necessary, not only to wash them carefully, but to 
scald them with boiling water. The boiling water 



176 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

kills germs that would otherwise increase in great 
numbers and sour the milk. 

Care of Milk. Strain the milk through a fine 
strainer immediately after milking. When fresh 
milk from the cow is left without special cooling, it 
sours very rapidly. The souring is caused by the 
action of bacteria which change the milk sugar to 
lactic acid. These bacteria multiply rapidly in 
warm milk. If the milk is cooled to a low tempera- 
ture immediately after milking, it can be kept sweet 
for a long time. 

Pasteurization. In order to prevent rapid souring 
and to kill disease germs, milk is heated to a tem- 
perature that destroys most of the bacteria, and then 
cooled to a low temperature. This process is known 
as pasteurization. If kept at a temperature of about 
155 degrees Fahrenheit for thirty minutes, most of 
the germs will be killed, the milk will not be given 
a cooked taste, and, if immediately cooled down al- 
most to the freezing point, it will keep for a long 
time without souring. Milk may be pasteurized in 
less time by bringing it to a higher temperature, but 
care must be taken not to cook it. 

The Babcock Test. The Babcock test is a very 
simple method by which the per cent, of fat in milk 
can be determined. It is now the common way of 
determining the value of milk brought to our cream- 
eries. 

Sampling the Milk. In order to get a fair sample 
from which to make a Babcock test, it is necessary 
that the whole quantity from which the sample is 



DAIRYING. 



177 



to be taken should be thoroughly mixed. If the 
milk has stood for some time, pour it back and forth 
from one vessel to another, until it is thoroughly 
mixed. 

Quality of Milk Used in the Test. In making the 
test for fat the quantity of milk used is seventeen and 
six-tenths (17.6) cubic centimeters. This is usually 
taken with a pipette, from which it is easily poured 
into the Babcock milk bottles. Two samples should 
be taken, so that the test may be made in duplicate. 




Fig. 57. Two-Bottle 
cock Milk Tester. 



Bab- 



Four-Bottle Babcock 
Tester. 



Milk 



Quantity of Acid Used. In making a Babcock 
test, commercial sulphuric acid is used. Seventeen 
and five-tenths (17.5) cubic centimeters of this acid 
are carefully poured into the bottle containing the 
milk to be tested. The acid should be poured down 
the side of the bottle, so as not to mix with the milk 
while being poured in. The acid, being much heav- 
ier than the milk, collects at the bottom of the bot- 
tle. After pouring in the acid, the bottle should be 
carefully shaken until the acid and milk are thor- 



178 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

oughly mixed. The product should be of a brown 
color, which soon turns to black. 

Use of Acid. The sulphuric acid acts chemically 
on all the solids of the milk except the fat. This sets 
the fat free, and facilitates its separation. If too 
much acid, or acid that is too strong, is used, or if 
the temperature is too high, the fat is burned. If 
too little acid, or if weak acid, is used, or if the tem- 
perature is too low, the casein will not all be held in 
solution, and the test will not be satisfactory. In 
order to get a satisfactory test, the milk should have 
a temperature of about 65 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Whirling the Bottles: The bottles are now placed 
in the cups of the testing machine, and whirled at 
the rate of about nine hundred revolutions per min- 
ute for five minutes. In whirling, the acid and 
heavier parts of the milk are thrown to the out- 
side, — that is, to the bottom of the bottle, — while 
the fat, which is the lightest part of the milk, comes 
to the top of tlfe bottle. Hot water is now added 
until the bottle is filled to the neck, when it is again 
whirled for one minute. Enough hot water is then 
added to bring the liquid into the neck of the bottle 
so that the fat may all collect in the graduated part 
of it. The bottles are now whirled for one minute, 
immediately removed from the tester, and the per- 
centage of fat read. 

Reading the Per Cent, of Fat. The necks of the 
Babcock bottles are graduated, so that the reading 
gives the per cent, of fat in the milk. In reading 
the per cent., read from the lower edge of the lower 



DAIRYING. 



179 



meniscus to the upper edge of the upper meniscus. 
The quantity of butter derived from milk is usually 
about twelve per cent, greater than the quantity of 
butter fat. 

The Babcock Test on the Farm. Not only should 
the quantity of milk that each cow gives be known, 
but the milk of each cow should be tested frequently. 
What it costs to keep each cow should also be known. 
No dairy cow should be kept unless she is making a 
profit for the owner. A satisfactory two-bottle test- 
er can be bought for about four dollars. 

The Cream Separator. At our creameries and 
upon nmny farms, cream is separated from the milk 
by means of the cream sep- 
arator. The principle upon 
which the cream separator 
works is very simple. The 
milk is whirled rapidly in the 
machine, and the heavier parts, 
which include water and solids 
not fat, are thrown to the out- 
side by means of the whirling 
motion. The cream, being 
lighter, collects at the center, 
from which it is carried by 
means of a spout into the 
cream vat. Cream may be 
separated in this way from 
fresh milk. Such cream will be sweet. The cream 
separator also removes cream from the milk much 
more completely than is done by setting the milk in 




Fig-. 58. Modern Type 
of Hand Separator. 



180 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

pans, and letting it stand twenty-fonr hours before 
skimming. 

Creameries. Prior to 1864, all butter was made 
on tlie farm. Since that time the system of associated 
dairying has rapidly advanced, and today there are 
in the United States more than ten thousand cream- 
eries in operation. If a sufficient amount of milk or 
cream can be obtained daily in a given locality, 
butter can be manufactured more cheaply in the 
creamery than on the farm. It is also possible to 
obtain a better price for creamery butter, because 
of its more uniform quality. Buttermaking requires 
skill, as well as the application of scientific princi- 
ples. On the farm the amount of butter manufac- 
tured is too small to warrant the employment of some 
one skilled in buttermaking, consequently it is gen- 
erally more profitable to patronize a creamery where 
it is possible to do so. Notwithstanding the rapid in- 
crease in the number of creameries, about two-thirds 
of the butter produced in the United States is made 
in the farm dairies. In North Dakota, a creamery, 
to be successful, should manufacture not less than 
sixty thousand pounds of butter a year. This will 
require the milk product of about four hundred cows. 
Co-operative creameries which farmers have organ- 
ized, built, and equipped have been very success- 
ful and profitable. 

Cheese Factories. The associated system of dairy- 
ing was first taken up in the manufacture of cheese. 
Nearly four thousand cheese factories are operated 
in the United States, more than one-half of which 



DAIRYING. 181 

are in Wisconsin and New York. To produce cheese 
of a high and uniform quality requires considerable 
skill and attention. On the farm it is next to im- 
possible .to make a uniformly high grade of cheese 
owing to the small amount made. The factory prod- 
uct is more uniform, brings a better price, and finds 
a market more readily than farm cheese. The 
Northwestern farmer does not take kindly to cheese 
factories an account of the poor feeding value of 
the by-product (whey), and usually they are oper- 
ated only during the summer months. North Dako- 
ta is better adapted to buttermaking than to cheese 
production. In 1900, only five and five-tenths per 
cent, of the cheese produced in the United States was 
made on the farms. 

Butter. Butter is obtained by collecting the fat 
globules of the milk through some method of agita- 
tion. It is made up of a number of different fats, 
some of which have a very characteristic flavor. 
Average butter contains eighty-five per cent, pure 
fat, one per cent, casein, three per cent, salt, and 
eleven per cent, water. The quality of butter pro- 
duced depends largely on the manner in which the 
milk and cream has been handled, the skill of the. 
buttermaker, and the food eaten by the cows. 

Oleomargarine. A product manufactured from 
oleo oil has been on the market for a number of 
years under the name of oleomargarine. Butterine is 
sometimes used as a commercial name for this prod- 
uct, especially when it is mixed with butter. When 
colored it is impossible to tell this product from but- 



182 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

ter. Stringent laws have been passed regulating its 
manufacture and sale. When sold on its merits, the 
dairymen of the country have nothing to fear from 
oleomargarine. When properly made from whole- 
some ingredients, it is in no wise deleterious to 
health. The only objection to oleomargarine from 
the dairymen has been that it was colored to resem- 
ble butter, and generally sold for butter. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

POULTRY. 

Poultry Raising. It is not advisable to go into 
the poultry business on a large scale until one has 
learned it well, but every farmer should keep some 
poultry. One who finds it profitable should extend 
the business. Poultry raising requires little capital, 
a limited amount of land, and gives quick returns 
from the money invested. 

Classification. On the basis of utility, the do- 
mestic hen may be classified as follows : Egg breeds, 
meat breeds, general purpose breeds, and fancy 
breeds. 

(1) Egg Breeds. The egg breeds include those 
breeds that have a strong tendency toward egg pro- 
duction. They are smaller than the meat and gen- 
eral purpose breeds, but they are better layers. The 
Leghorns, Spanish, Minorcas, and Hamburgs belong 
to this class. 

(2) Meat Breeds. The meat breeds are larger 
than either the egg or general purpose breeds, but as 
a rule they are not good layers. The Brahmas, 
Cochins, and Langshans represent the meat breeds. 

(3) General Purpose Breeds. The general pur- 
pose breeds include those which are valuable both 



184 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 



for meat and egg production. Plymouth Rocks and 
Wyandottes belong to this class. 





Fig 59 
A Pail of Golden Wj ai dottf 



^m^M}'-}:-'' 



Fig GO 
\\hite Leghorn Cockeiel 



(4) Fancy Breeds. The fancy breeds include 
those which have a peculiar or pleasing appearance, 
and are not bred for utility alone. The Polish and 
Bantams are representatives of this class. 

Leg'horns. The history of this breed is obscure, 
but it is one of the Mediterranean breeds, and is sup- 
posed to have been brought to America from the city 
of Leghorn, in Italy. Leghorns are rather small, 
but rank high as ^gg producers. They begin laying 
•when quite young, — sometimes at the age of five 
months, — and, if well cared for, lay well during both 
the summer and winter. Large flocks have some- 
times produced two hundred eggs per hen in a single 
year. The Leghorn varies much in color, as is indi- 
cated by the names of the varieties of the breed. 
These are : White, Rose Comb White, Black, Brown, 
Rose Comb Brown, BufP, and Silver Duck wing. 



POULTRY. 



185 



Brahmas. The origin of this breed is not posi- 
tively known. Some assert that it originated in 
Asia, others that it is an American breed. The 
Brahmas are a very popular breed. They are prob- 
ably the largest breed in existence, and rank high as 
meat producers. 

Plymouth Rocks. The Plymouth Rocks proba- 
bly originated in Massachusetts about the middle of 
the nineteenth century. They are very popular as a 




Fig. 61. Bari-ed Plymouth Rocks. 

general purpose breed. In size they are not far be- 
hind the meat breeds, and in egg production they ap- 
proach the egg breeds. There are three varieties of 
Plymouth Rocks, — the Barred, Buff, and White. 

Bantams. The Bantam is purely a fancy or orna- 
mental breed. They cannot successfully compete 
with either the egg or meat producers. 



186 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

Care and Management of Poultry. The average 
farmer pays but little attention to his flock of hens. 
No attempt is made to follow a regular system of 
feeding, and poultry raising is often considered un- 
profitable. The keeping of poultry requires constant 
supervision, and somewhat closer attention to de- 
tails than the production of other classes of live 
stock. If one has a good knowledge of the business, 
it offers as great an inducement for the money in- 
vested as any line of work in animal husbandry. 
The essential factors to keep in mind, when one is 
raising fowls either for egg or meat production are 
location, housing, cleanliness, and feed. 




Fig. 62. Chicken House. Cheap, light and easily built. 

(1) Location. A healthful location for the poul- 
try house should be the first consideration when 
building. Select or prepare a dry, somewhat ele- 



POULTRY. 



187 



vated surface, so that the free water will drain away 
in all directions. A porous loam, or gravelly soil 
makes the best possible situation, as no unnecessary 
moisture will then remain around the buildings, thus 
insuring comparative immunity from disease, — an 
essential factor in successful poultry raising. If the 
house is placed about a foot above the ground, leav- 
ing a free space underneath, it will help protect from 




Fig. 63. Chicken House With Scratching Shed Attached. 

rats, which are deadly enemies of young chicks. A 
location where fowls can have access to sunshine 
during the cold months is very desirable. Plenty of 
sunshine stimulates egg production by maintaining 
a high standard of vigor in the flock. To this end, 
a southern exposure, both for the yards and houses, 
is desirable. During the summer months it is neces- 
sary to supply shade for fowls either by artificial 
structures or by means of trees or shrubs planted 
where the fowls can have access to them. 



188 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

(2) Cleanliness. A fair degree of cleanliness is 
absolutely essential to successful poultry raising. 
The runs or yards should never be allowed to become 
foul. This can readily be prevented by spading or 
plowing them at least once a year. If the whole in- 
terior of the poultry house is given a thorough white- 
washing in the spring. and again in the fall, before 
the cold weather sets in, it will materially assist in 
keeping down the vermin. The whitewash can be 
applied easily and quickly with a spray pump. Fre- 
quent applications of some reliable lice killer or a 
kerosene solution to the roosts will be found neces- 
sary, as the cracks in them serve as hiding places 
for the red mites during the day. 

(3) Warmth. As the cold season approaches, 
fowls quit laying unless warm quarters have been 
provided for them, as all their food is required to 
maintain warmth in the body when they are con- 
fined in cold quarters. A model poultry house 
should be so constructed that artificial heat will not 
be necessary; but if this must be resorted to, care 
should be taken to maintain an equable temperature. 
A temperature of about 40 degrees Fahrenheit proves 
very satisfactory. 

(4) Importance of Good Feed. Poultry on the 
average farm are given their full liberty. The own- 
er expects them to gather food, during the warm 
weather at least. If he gets poor results from his 
hens in the way of limited egg production, the fowls 
are blamed, while in reality the fault lies with the 
owner. The old saying that ''you cannot get some- 



POULTRY. 189 

thing from nothing" applies well in this case. 
Naturally a hen will first retain in her body all the 
food necessary for the maintenance of life, and all 
foods in excess of this will be manufactured into eggs 
or flesh by good fowls. Only by careful and judi- 
cious feeding, and by adopting a regular and rea- 
sonable system of management, can the poultry rais- 
er hope to attain the best results. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

BIRDS. 

Birds are among the most faithful helpers that 
the farmer has. They are diligent in their work, and 
their board is the only pay exacted. Did you ever 
ask yourself why the King Bird and Swallow make 
such sudden darts here and there as if in search of 
something? They are seeking their food, which 
consists mostly of insects. A large proportion of 
these insects injure economic plants, consequently, 
the greater the number of injurious insects destroy- 
ed by birds, the larger and better will be the crops. 
In some parts of the country, thoughtless people 
have killed many of our best birds, and, as a result, 
the insects have increased to such an extent that the 
products of the farm and orchard are much de- 
creased in quality and yield. " 

Birds, like people, must be classed as good and 
bad. Some birds have few bad traits, some have 
good and bad habits, while a few birds, such as 
the English Sparrow, have scarcely a redeeming fea- 
ture. It is reasonably safe to assume that a bird is n 
friend to the farmer, at least until the case is clearly 
proven against him. Our singing birds, almost with- 
out exception, are strong allies of the farmer. There 



BIRDS. 191 

are many kinds of birds, but only a few of them can 
be mentioned here. 

The Crow. This bird belongs to the second class 
mentioned above, — he has bad habits as well as 
good. He is fond of pulling np sprouting corn in 
the spring, and he also likes the ears of growing 
corn when they are in the milk stage of growth. 
He has been known to suck eggs, and he sometimes 
kills young chickens. Perhaps his worst habit is 
that of feeding upon the eggs and young of other 
birds. But with all these things against him, the 
crow does the farmer an immense amount of good 
by destroying insects and mice. The insects eaten 
consist largely of grasshoppers and May beetles, 
both of which cause much injury to the farmer. 
The crow is exceedingly fond of mice, which are a 
nuisance to the farmer, as they destroy grass roots, 
girdle young trees, and consume large quantities of 
grain. 

Woodpeckers. Nearly all of the woodpeckers 
are valuable to man. When you hear a woodpecker 
beating a tattoo upon a tree, you may be sure he is 
seeking some injurious wood borer. 

Hawks and Owls. Few people have much love 
for these birds. Because some hawks and owls are 
fond of jTOultry, all are condemned, shot upon sight, 
and given no quarter. This method is quite wrong, 
as several kinds are of great value to man, and do 
little, if any, harm. The principal food of many of 
the hawks and owls consists of mice, gophers, 
prairie dogs, and rabbits, all of which are injurious 



192 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

to the farmer. If a hawk or owl is found catching 
chickens, it should be killed, but that does not war- 
rant an indiscriminate destruction of all hawks and 
owls that can be found. To shoot these friends of 
the farmer is a poor kind of sport, and to shoot 
them in fancied self-defense is a piece of folly based 
upon ignorance. 

English Sparrows. English sparrows have been 
given a vast amount of study, and nearly all investi- 
gators agree in considering them a great nuisance. 
They not only eat the crops and let the insects alone, 
but they attack, kill, and drive away valuable birds 
from their nesting places. They have been observed 
to molest over one hundred different kinds of birds, 
most of which belong to beneficial species. . 

Pleasing Qualities of Birds. Aside from the great 
money value which birds are to man, they afford him 
pleasure by their beauty, song, and tender attention 
to home duties. No one who has a kindly regard for 
the rights of birds, or who has a sympathetic inter- 
est in our feathered songsters, would so far forget 
himself as to use the birds for personal decoration. 
Iti is a custom inherited from the barbarians, and 
should be left to them. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

FRUIT CULTURE. 

What to Produce. The fruits best suited for cul- 
tivation in North Dakota are the plum, strawberry, 
currant, gooseberry, and raspberry. The wild repre- 
sentatives of all these may be found here and there 
in many parts of the state. All of them have con- 
siderable value, and many of them can be cultivated 
to advantage in our gardens. 

Origin of Cultivated Species. Generally speaking, 
the cultivated fruits of any region are developed m 
that region. Nearly all of the well-known fruits cul- 
tivated in the United States are but improved forms 
of the native species, and our valuable varieties of 
the introduced species, like the apple, originated in 
this country. 

How Fruits Are Improved. Some of the wild 
fruits, like the native plum and gooseberry, improve 
rapidly under cultivation, if from the best individ- 
uals a systematic selection of seed is made. The 
Concord grape originated in the second generation 
from the wild grape of the woods; and many other 
instances are recorded of a marked improvement 
within a comparatively short period. The work of 
improving native fruits is interesting, and furnishes 
a means of study and entertainment that almost any 



194 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

one can pursue with some degree of profit. The ad- 
vantage of a student taking up some independent 
line of scientific work can hardly be overestimated. 
It develops a capacity for independent research that 
cannot rapidly be acquired in any other way. 

CULTIVATED FRUITS. 

Plums. Under our present conditions, the most 
valuable fruit for general cultivation is the plum. 
The improved, varieties of the common wild plum 
are the only ones that will be found hardy and profit- 
able. They like deep, moist soil, and require only 
such attention as will keep the trees thrifty. A 
northwest slope is best, though they will do well 
upon level land. Good, native soil requires no en- 
riching for plum growing. Some protection on the 
south in the way of a good windbreak of willows 
and soft maple or other dense-growing trees is es- 
sential to (Continued success. The trees should be 
planted about ten by sixteen feet apart, and kept 
well cultivated, especially for the first few years. 
They should be mulched with straw each fall until 
they are three or four years old; and where the 
ground is pretty sure to be bare of snow, one should 
never give up mulching the trees for winter, to pre- 
vent root killing when the weather is very severe. 
They need practically no pruning, but the suckers 
must be kept down if they appear. The Wyant, Sur- 
prise, and De Soto are among the best varieties. 
They should begin bearing when three or four years 
old. Have a few trees of the best wild plums of the 



FRUIT CULTURE. 195 

neighborhood growing among the others. Each fall 
plant a number of plum pits, saved from the best 
trees as they come into bearing. 

Currants and Gooseberries. These plants do well 
in a moist, cool, heavy soil, and, like many other 
fruits, do better on a north or northeast slope. Set 
the plants, as they are obtained from the nursery, 
about four by eight feet apart. The secret of suc- 
cess with these fruits is to keep the bushes small and 
compact, allowing but eight or ten canes to each 
plant, cutting out all canes four years old, and al- 
lowing but two or three new ones to grow each sea- 
son. Like other fruits, they should be given clean 
cultivation. "While not absolutely necessary, it is a 
good plan to mulch with straw early each fall. The 
soil should be enriched from time to time by culti- 
vating a liberal dressing of stable manure into it. 
Keep out all grass and weeds. 

Strawberries. With a good windbreak on the 
south and west, and a deep, moist soil, one can be 
practically sure of success with this fruit. Set the 
plants in early spring, two by four feet apart. Set 
them carefully, with the crown just at the surface 
of the ground, and the roots well spread out and ex- 
tending directly downward. Pack the earth firmly 
about each plant, and, if the weather is dry, water 
them twice each week until the plants have started. 
Give thorough cultivation, and remove all of the 
runners from each plant except the first three or 
four that start. In the fall, after the ground has 
frozen, cover the bed with four inches of straw. In 



196 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

the spring, after the plants have shown signs of 
starting, remove the straw, leaving it between the 
rows. The bed will need no further attention until 
fruiting time, except an occasional light hoeing be- 
tween the plants to keep down the weeds. After 
the fruit is gathered, prepare the bed for the next 
season by cultivating thoroughly, and by removing 
part of the straw if necessary. This cultivation 
should be kept up until the close of the season, and 
most of the runners should be removed as they ap- 
pear, leaving but three or four to each plant. After 
the second crop has been gathered, the bed should 
be plowed up, another having been started the pre- 
vious spring. One must test his own varieties to a 
certain extent, taking care to have half of the varie- 
ties of the staminate sorts to insure fertilization. 
The Senator Dunlop, Warfield, and William Belt are 
the most valuable varieties for us at the present 
time. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

PROTECTION AND ORNAMENTATION OF HOME 
AND SCHOOL GROUNDS. 

Purposes. Trees and shrubs should be planted 
about the home, first, for protection and comfort, 
and, second, for ornamentation. We have the same 
reasons for planting them about the school grounds, 
with the added one that they furnish means and ma- 
terial for education. Tree planting for ornamental 
effect is one of the most important elements in land- 
scape gardening. This is one of the fine arts, closely 
related to painting, and governed by the same laws. 
The difference lies in the fact that, instead of using 
the brush, the landscape gardener makes his pictures 
by the use of natural objects. Landscape garden- 
ing, like other arts, cannot be taught wholly by 
rules. One must practice the art in order to excel in 
it. Still there are certain principles to be learned 
before one can even plant a dooryard so as to get the 
best effect. 

Principles. The principles involved are not fixed 
and arbitrary, like those of the exact sciences. For 
convenience they may be stated something as fol- 
lows : First, make a picture with a foreground and 
background. The buildings will naturally be the key 
or central object. All elements in the picture should 



198 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

express the same idea, giving unity. Second, make 
the picture natural by arranging the trees, shrubs, 
and flowers as nature would have done, in masses, 
groups, and borders. Third, give the picture varie- 
ty and interest by using a number of different kinds 
of trees and other plants, arrayed in a pleasing and 
effective manner. Fourth, select plants well adapt- 
ed to the region, and grow them properly, so they 
will be thrifty, and thus avoid the expression of 
poverty. Fifth, keep the trees trimmed if they are 
inclined to grow straggling. Destroy all weeds or 
other unsightly features, so the place will look re- 
fined and polished, and not straggling and neglected. 
Plan. In making an application of these princi- 
ples, the first step is to plan the picture. Nature has 
sometimes helped in this by furnishing a sightly hill 
for a background, or a mass of trees that can be 
used in like manner. It is more often the case that 
one has but the bare canvas to begin with. In 
either case, draw a plan of the grounds to some con- 
venient scale, say eight feet to an inch, locating the 
boundaries, buildings, and other fixed features. 
Next decide upon the location of the walks and 
drives, and for the home grounds locate the gardens, 
clothes drying yard, etc., making the arrangements 
as convenient as possible. Have the walks few and 
direct, avoiding tortuous, "snaky" curves. Strong 
natural curves in a walk or grove may be an ad- 
vantage, and look better than straight lines. Have 
the walks made with even, clean-cut margins. Pro- 
vide drainage and surface with good gravel or cin- 




Fig 64. Peter Severt's Grounds in Canby, Minn., in 1886. 




Fig 65 Peter Severt's Grounds in Canby, Minn., in 1903. Show- 
ing result of planting trees and shrubs. 



200 ELEMENTS OP AGRICULTURE. 

ders. Hard brick or cement walks are not very ex- 
pensive, and are better than dirt walks, especially 
near the buildings. 

The Lawn. The lawn is perhaps the most im- 
portant element in the adornment of home grounds, 
and hardly less so with school grounds. No system of 
planting can make a place really attractive when 
the intervening spaces are bare and patchy, while, 
on the other hand, a perfectly plain plat of grass, if 
it be rich and green, is attractive. Therefore, in 
drawing the plan, provide a central open expanse 
that will be an unbroken lawn. Cut it by walks 
only where necessary, and plant trees and shrubs 
upon it, not so much for their own attractiveness as 
for the interest and spirit they add to the picture. 
It is possible for the finest trees to spoil a good view, 
and they should be so placed as to avoid this possi- 
bility. 

Locatian of Trees. The planting of trees will then 
be chiefly at the rear and sides of the place, where 
they will afford a proper setting and background 
for the buildings and other objects. They lend not 
only the artistic effect required in the way of form 
and color, but they add to the picture the expression 
of dignity and permanence always characteristic of 
trees. This expression lends to gardens one of their 
greatest charms. We cannot admire things crude 
and uncouth, least of all a landscape that is crude 
and uncouth. In the arrangement of the trees, much 
can be done to avoid the expression of newness and 
crudeness. To do this, plant the trees in such a 



PROTECTION AND ORNAMENTATION OF GROUNDS. 201 



J 


^ 





Fig. tw;. A T\i;e of lluri;l School Building- and Grounds in 
Washing-ton Co., Minn., Which is Rapidly Disappearing. 
Photo taken In 1904. 




Fig. 67. A Model Rural School Building and Grounds in Henne- 
pin Co., Minn. Photo taken in 1904. 



202 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

manner that they will appear to have sprung up 
there naturally. Plant in groups and masses, ar- 
ranging the different varieties so as to have the 
larger ones at the center and back, and the com- 
pact, smaller ones in front. After three or foui 
years, no one will think that the trees are not of 
nature's i)lanting. The landscape expresses ease, 
quietness, and repose, — elements to be greatly 
sought after. For this kind of planting, cultivate 
every portion of the grounds to be planted, and set 
the trees thickly, four or five feet apart for the small 
trees, and thin them out as they crowd each other. 
Have the inner line of the border in which the 
trees are planted more or less irregular, but not so 
much so that the plantation will appear straggling. 

Varieties of Trees. For the main planting, use 
shade-giving trees, like the ash, soft maple, Norway 
maple, box elder, elm, hackberry, linden, and white 
birch. Along the borders, plant the native shrubs, 
and such hardy foreign ones as the lilacs, snowball, 
purple barberry, bush honeysuckle, etc. Don't scat- 
ter them too much, but plant the different sorts more 
or less by themselves in masses blending into each 
other. 

Groups of Trees. If the expanse of lawn is con- 
siderable, one or more groups of trees or shrubs may 
be so i^laced that they will add to the effect. Make 
them large enough to command respect, and ob- 
serve the same rules as given for planting the bor- 
ders. Also plant masses of shrubs against the build- 



PROTECTION AND ORNAMENTATION OF GROUNDS. 203 

ing, making free use of vines like the wild grape 
and woodbine. 

Planting Flowers. Flowers always add interest 
and charm to a place if properly planted. Placed 
among the shrubs and along the borders, they may 
be made very effective with little care. For many 
reasons it is hardly worth while to try to grow them 
in beds upon the open lawn. There are very many 
hardy perennials, both wild and introduced, that 
make themselves quite at home along the borders, 
protected by the shrubs, and require very little care 
after the first planting. The peonies, hardy phlox, 
iris, hardy lilies, yucca, ferns, violets, and countless 
others may be placed here from time to time, where 
they are sure of finding a congenial home. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

CARE or FARM MACHINERY. 

Farm Machinery Necessary. Modern methods 
of farming, and the wages paid to hired help, make 
necessary the extensive use of farm machinery. 
Some of this machinery is very expensive, and, if 
not well cared for, must frequently be replaced. 

Keep Bearings Oiled. Good machine oil is com- 
paratively cheap, and is easily applied to the bear- 
ings of the various kinds of farm machinery. The 
rapid running parts of such machines as mowers 
and binders should frequently be oiled in order to 
prevent heating. 

Keep Bolts Tight. It is truly said that ' ' a stitch 
in time saves nine, ' ' and, in the case of our modern 
farm machinery, the- tightening of a nut, or the re- 
placing of a broken or badly worn bolt, not only 
saves time, but frequently many dollars that must 
otherwise be spent for repairs. A man who is alert 
and interested in his work will usually notice as soon 
as anything goes wrong with the machinery he is 
handling, and will remedy it at once. 

Replace Wornout Parts. If any part of a ma- 
chine is found to be badly worn at the close of a sea- 
son's work, it may be wise to replace it before using 
the machine the following season. This often makes 



CARE OF FARM MACHINERY. 205 

it possible to avoid long delays caused by the neces- 
sity of making repairs during the busy season. 
Thoroughly repairing farm machinery during the 
periods when farm work is slack usually proves a 
good investment. 

Polished Surfaces of Plows and Cultivators. The 
bright steel surfaces of plows and cultivators should 
always be kept clean and free from rust. If this is 
not done, much time will be lost in getting them 
burnished so that they will scour in the soil. Oil ap- 
plied to the polished surfaces when the machine is 
not to be used for some time will protect the parts 
which are otherwise liable to rust. When not in use, 
it is well to remove and store cultivator shovels and 
other polished parts in a dry place. 

Machine Sheds. Few investments pay better than 
a good machine shed. It has often been demon- 
strated that farm machinery which is housed during 
that portion of the year when not in use lasts several 
times as long as machinery that is exposed to the 
sun, dew, and rain throughout the year. Such a 
shed need cost only a fractional part of the value of 
the machinery that it will protect. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

ROADS. 

Location of Roads. Where it is possible, each 
section line should be converted into a highway. 
From thirty-three to sixty-eight feet are required for 
a legal roadway, of which the land-owner on each 
side must give half. 




Fig. 68. Properly Crowned Earth Road. Cross sections of two 
good forms for earth roads. The lower section can be made 
with a road machine, and both sections can be rolled and 
constructed so that water will run off easily and quickly. 

Building Dirt Roads. The side ditches and mid- 
dle ridge are rapidly formed by the use of a road 
machine, consisting of a heavy plow and revolving 
rubber canvas. The plow part of the machine cuts 



Fig. 69. Poorly Crowned Earth Road. Cross section of a 14-foot 
road showing the result of improper construction and drain- 
age. Note that the center of the road has become the low- 
est part and that water may collect on the surface, making 
the road practically impassable. 

the ditch, while the canvas delivers the dirt several 
feet away, and near the middle of the road. This 




Fig. 70. Poorly Crowned and Badly Drained Roadbed. 




Fig. 71. Properly Crowned and Well-Drained Earth Road. Note 
slope from center to sides. Road was worked with road 
machine and horse roller in March. Photograph taken June 
1. about forty-eight ho.urs after long, hard rain. 

Note: Above cuts reproduced from Farmers' Bulletin No, 136, 
U, S, Dept. of Agriculture. 



208 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

grading machine leaves the road bed rough, lumpy, 
and uneven, and it should- be followed by a disc har- 
row or pulverizer, which will cut the lumps into fine, 
workable pieces. After the clods are reduced, a re- 
versible road grader in the hands of an expert will 
form the bed into any shape desired. 

Avoid Steep Grades. The load which can be car- 
ried is measured by the steepest hill, and one short 
grade of a few hundred yards may reduce the load 
which can be hauled for ten miles one-fourth in 
weight. Where a rise of more than seven feet in one 
hundred occurs, it should be cut down by the use of 
the wheeled or slush grader. Cutting at the crest of 
the hill, and depositing the dirt at the foot of the 
slope, will reduce the grade, and, while it is a slow 
process, compared with the work that can be done 
with large grading machines, it is the best-known 
method for carrying dirt from one point in the road- 
bed to another some distance away. 

Road Drainage. A form of construction which 

will avoid standing water is 

the chief secret in maintain- -^^^ 

ing a good road. Furrows or i 

ditches along each side of the 

roadbed furnish dirt to build 

a roimded surface for vehicles 

to pass over, and, in addition, 

^ Fig. 72. Subdiain made 

serve to carry the water away with flew stones. 
to the natural ravines and rivers which form the 
final outlets for all the extra surface water that 
falls. 

Tile Drains. Tile drains beneath the surface of 




ROADS. 



209 




the ditches will rapidly absorb and carry away the 
water which does not find an outlet within a few 
hours after it falls. They have 
the advantage of allowing the 
use of shallow road ditches, and 
of assuring more certain and 
thorough drainage. Laying tile 
in the manner described is 
rather expensive, and is prac- 
ticed only in older and more 
wealthy communities. 
Fig. 73. Subdrain con- Culverts. Natural waterways 

structed with drain tile . , i t -, ■, 

and stone. must not DC dammed by road 

grades, hence culverts and bridges must be supplied 
to avoid obstructing them. Tile drains form one of 
the most efficient and durable 
forms of culverts. Where wa- 
terways are too wide to admit 
of the use of tile drains, wood- 
en structures are usually pro- 
Fig. 74. Subdrain made ^ided. If stouc archcs cau be 
?eyfnf 'sprTn/^'wSe; built, they form a permanent 
under or alongside of ^^^ therefore economical con- 
struction for the passage of streams; although the 
first cost is usually too great to permit of their adop- 
tion. 

Weedy Roadsides. Weeds should not be allowed 
to grow along the roadsides. They give the road a 
slovenly and neglected appearance; they prevent 
quick and complete drainage of the surface, and they 
cause snow to lodge and form drifts during the win- 
ter season. The occasional use of the harrow will 




210 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

not only prevent the growth of weeds, but it will fill 
the wheel ruts, level the surface, and greatly im- 
prove the roadbed by insuring rapid drainage from 
its surface. A sloping ditch bank next to the field 
will allow it to be plowed and farmed to the bottom 
of the furrow. This will prevent the growth of 
weeds along the roadside next to the field. "Where 
time cannot be spared to destroy the weeds by the 
use of the harrow when they are small, a mower can 
be run over them once or twice during the season to 
advantage. 

Special Forms of Roadways. Expensive special 
forms of roadbeds are usually made only ten to six- 
teen feet wide. This reduces the cost of construc- 
tion, and gives drivers an opportunity to use the dirt 
bed on either side during the times when it forms a 
better roadway than the specially constructed ones. 
There are a great many special forms for building 
roadways and pavements, only three of which will 
be taken up in this volume, viz., surfacing with 
gravel, sand, or clay, the Macadam system, and the 
Telford roadbed. 

(1) Surfacing with Sand, Gravel, or Clay. Sur- 
facing roadbeds is practical in only a few places. 
Where stretches of heavy, sticky clay roads are 
found close to sand pits, they can be greatly im- 
proved by hauling sand and depositing it upon them 
in such quantity that it will become mixed, with the 
clay and form a hard crust over the surface. Such 
a road will not readily form ruts, nor become sticky 
enough to clog wheels. Roadbeds which consist of 
loose sand will be greatly improved by having clay 



ROADS. 



211 




Fig. 75. Type of Road in Massachusetts Before Improvement, 




Fig, 76. Type of Road in Massachusetts After Improvement. 



/ 



212 . ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

thrown upon them, the effect of which is similar to 
that already described for clay roads. Clayey or 
heavy loam roadbeds may be improved by covering 
their surfaces with a shallow layer of gravel. 

(2) The Macadam Roadbed. Many years ago a 
man named Macadam introduced a system of artifi- 
cial road construction which has been adopted by 
many cities, towns, villages, and rural communities, 
and it has given good satisfaction in almost every 
instance. It is used only where medium loads are 
hauled ; and some regular form of pavement should 
be provided for the heavier dray work which must 
occur in cities, even during bad weather. A road- 
bed for a Macadam road is constructed the same as 
though it were to remain a dirt bed, except that a 
hollow is left in the middle for depositing the small, 
angular pieces of stone which form the roadbed. 
Granite or other hard stone is broken into fragments 
and packed firmly by running a heavy iron roller 
over it. The road is watched closely, and additional 
stone is added to fill the ruts which the wheels of 
vehicles are sure to make in it when the roadbed is 

new. 

(3) The Telford System. The Telford road bears 
the name of the originator and differs from the 
Macadam in that the foundation consists of quite 
large stones, which are carefully laid in a well- 
formed bed. Next, a layer of fine stone, much like 
that used by Macadam, is placed over, until the 
foundation or stone bed is covered to a depth of 
seven inches. Over this, sufficient gravel is scatter- 
ed to fill all of the smaller cavities, and bind the 
covering into a firm, resistant layer, 



CHAPTER XXIX. 
SOILS. 

What is Soil? As commonly used, the term 
'soil" means that portion of the earth's crust into 
which plants send their roots for food and water. 
It is usually disintegrated rock, mixed with organic 
matter. That portion which is near the surface, and 
rich in humus, is termed "soil," and that beneath, 
"subsoil." Humus in soil makes it dark in color, 
consequently soil is generally much darker than sub- 
soil. In dry regions, where crops can be grown only 
by irrigation, there is often no difference in the fer- 
tility of the soil and subsoil, and no line of demarka- 
tion in color appears. Even earth from depths of 
thirty feet or more may be as productive as the sur- 
face. 

Origin of Soil. Soil has been formed mainly 
from rocks that have been broken or ground up by 
various natural agencies. The agents that have had 
most to do in soil formation are heat, water, gases, 
micro-organisms, and vegetable life. Usually these 
agents have combined to bring about the disintegra- 
tion of rocks. 

Heat. Heat causes most substances to expand, 
and cold causes them to contract. The expansion 



SOILS. 215 

and contraction is not uniform for different sub- 
stances, consequently some portions of a rock ex- 
pand or contract more rapidly than others, causing 
the particles to break apart, and the rock finally to 
crumble. This process is usually spoken of as the 
weathering of rocks. Weathering is also brought 
about by the freezing and thawing of water that the 
rocks have absorbed. 

Water. Running water is the greatest agent in 
the transportation of soils. During every heavy 
rain a great amount of soil is transported, and some 
of it to quite a distance. Rivers and even small 
streams are instrumental in carrying vast quantities 
of soil from one place to another. In past ages, 
glaciers transported a large amount of soil, and they 
are still at work in some of the colder regions. 

Micro-organisms. Micro-organisms, while very 
small, are often numerous, and have had much to do 
in working over inorganic rock into organic matter. 
They absorb material from the solid rock, and leave 
it in the form of fine soil. 

Vegetable Life. Plants live principally on wa- 
ter, air, and partially decomposed organic matter, 
but, to some extent, they derive nourishment di- 
rectly from rocks. For example, if a plant root 
grows along the surface of a piece of marble, it will 
take enough material from the marble to roughen 
the surface. In this way, rock is slowly but surely 
ground up into very fine particles of soil. After 
rock has been ground up quite fine by other agen- 
cies, small animals, such as earthworms, swallow it, 



216 ELEMENTS OP AGRICULTURE. 

and further reduce it by the action of their digestive 
tracts. 

The Entire Surface Covered by the Sea. Prob- 
ably all parts of the earth 's surface have at one time 
or another been covered by the waters of the sea. 
These waters have had much to do, not only in 
grinding the surface rocks, but in separating the 
sand, silt, and clay. The largest and heaviest par- 
ticles are deposited first, and the finest and lightest 
last. When sediment is carried down by the rivers, 
the fine particles are carried far into the sea, while 
the coarser ones are dropped early. The waves of 
the sea, beating on the shores, carry away the clay 
and leave the sand. These instances of the action 
of water in separating soil elements show how the 
sandy sea shores are formed. Sand and clay are 
often found deposited in layers, called '' strata." 
This, stratification is the result of water action. 

Why Valleys are Usually Rich. A portion of 
the water that falls to the earth in the form of rain 
or snow runs down the hillsides toward the valleys. 
Such water, if it runs slowly, gradually carries the 
clay and silt towards the valley, leaving the heavier 
sand behind, and even the rapid flowing stream car- 
ries the finest particles farthest. This is why the 
surface of the valleys are so often covered with a 
deep layer of clay and silt, and it also accounts for 
many hillsides being barren. 

The Action of Glaciers. Thousands of years 
ago a great glacier came down from the northeast 
across North America. This glacier was a vast 



SOILS. 217 

sheet of ieo hundreds of feet in depth, and it covered 
nearly all of North America east of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, and as far south as the Ohio and Missouri 
Rivers. In some places the glacier crossed what is 
now the location of these rivers ; in other places it 
may not have extended so far south. This great, 
body of ice carried large masses of earth and rock 
before it, breaking and grinding them to pieces. 
This great ice sheet retreated annually before the 
heat of summer, causing the earth that the glacier 
was carrying to be deposited. The glacier advanced 
the next winter, repeating the work of the year be- 
fore. By constantly advancing and retreating, the 
glacier greatly modified the surface, and left a soil 
peculiar to the portion of the United States north 
of the rivers mentioned. Most of the soil of Minne- 
sota, and a large portion of the soil of North and 
South Dakota, is of glacial origin. 

How the Red River Valley was Formed. When 
the great glacier began to retreat to the north, in 
what is now the Red River Valley, it formed a dam 
which held back the water and made a great lake. 
Geologists have named this ancient body of water, 
Lake Agassiz. The rich prairie soils along the Red 
River are composed of sediment from the waters 
of this great lake. When the ice sheet retreated to 
the far north, Lake Agassiz was drained into Hud- 
son Bay. 

Glacial Soil West of the Valley. The soil be- 
tween the Red River Valley and the Missouri River 
is of glacial origin, while in some places the glacial 



218 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

soil extends quite a distance west of tlie Missouri. 
Glacial soil is quite variable in composition ; some of 
it being a rich, clay loam, other portions a sandy 
loam, and still others quite sandy. 

The Bad Lands. A portion of the region west 
of the Missouri River is known as the ''Bad Lands." 
Scientists say that the Bad Lands are not burned 
out coal mines, as some suppose, but are simply the 
results of erosion. For many ages the Bad Lands 
region has been washed by rains, until it has be- 
come very rough. This washing has removed the 
richer particles of the soil, and has left it, in many 
places, quite barren. 

Classification of Soils. Soils are classified in 
several ways. They may be classified as light and 
heavy, warm and cold, or as sand and clay soils, 
with many intervening grades. 

Light and Heavy Soils. Light and heavy are 
practical terms applied to all soils. These terms 
do not apply to the weight per cubic foot, for the 
soils called light are the heaviest soils we have in 
w^eight. A heavy, clay soil, when dry, weighs from 
seventy to eighty pounds per cubic foot, while the 
lightest kind of sandy soil weighs from one hundred 
five to one hundred ten pounds to the cubic foot. It 
is the ease or difficulty with which these soils are 
worked or tilled which give rise to the terms "light" 
and "heavy." In light soils the roots of plants 
push their way easily, while in stiff soils they thread 
their way with more difficulty, and are usually not 
distributed so thoroughly. As a result, the roots 



SOILS. 219 

of plants in heavy soils trespass upon each other's 
feeding grounds, and do not get the benefit of the 
whole soil so completely as they do in the lighter 
soil. On the other hand, light soils are usually not 
so rich in plant food as heavy ones. 

Wann and Cold Soils. Soils are also called 
warm and cold in reference to their temperature 
in early spring. The strongest factor in determin- 
ing the temperature of soil is the amount of water 
it can hold and bring to the surface. Those hold- 
ing the most water, and delivering it the most rap- 
idly to the surface, are usually the coldest soils. 

Sand and Clay. Soils are also classified, accord- 
ing to the size of their particles, into sandy soils 
and clay soils, with many grades betvN^een the two, 
resulting from a mixture. Soils that are made up 
mostly of coarse grains are called sandy soils, while 
those that are composed of very fine particles are 
called clay soils. In addition to the difference in 
the size of their particles, sandy and clay soils usual- 
ly differ in their chemical composition. 

Loamy Soils. Loamy soils have their grains 
intermediate or between those of the sandy and clay 
types. In loamy soil we have, on the coarser grained 
side, sandy loams and loamy sands, and, on the finer 
grained side, clayey loams and loamy clays, there 
being, of course, an insensible shading of one of these 
types of soil into another. In parts of the world 
where these different types occur, it is found that 
each produces plants peculiar to itself. Some plants 
have suited their roots to the coarser, drier soils 



220 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

more economically than others can, while other 
plants and trees, in the long years of fitting and re- 
fitting, have come to thrive and grow best on heavy 
clay soils. Besides the soils described above, there 
are sv/amp, muck, peat, and humns soils, allof which 
contain a very high percentage of decaying organic 
matter or humus. 

Chemical Composition of Soils. A soil that con- 
tains much plant food is said to have a rich chemical 
composition. AVhen soils do not have a satisfac- 
tory chemical composition they usually lack nitro- 
gen, phosphorus, or potassium. The roots of clover, 
alfalfa, peas, and beans have the power, by means of 
bacteria living in the nodules on their roots, to use 
the free nitrogen of the air. This nitrogen is given 
to the soil when their roots decay. Manure from 
the barnyard is a complete fertilizer, furnishing to 
the growing plant all the different kinds of food 
that it needs. 

Physical Condition. When soil is moist, fine, 
and loose, it is in good physical condition, and the 
roots of plants penetrate it easily. The finer the 
soil particles, the larger the feeding surface for the 
roots. Grains of sand are coarser than those of clay, 
and therefore do not offer as large a feeding surface 
for plant roots per cubic foot of soil. When soil 
is hard or baked, roots have difficulty in penetrat- 
ing it. If a soil is full of hard lumps, roots do not 
penetrate the lumps, and can get no nourishment 
from them. Sometimes the surface soil bakes be- 
fore the plants come up, and they have difficulty in 



SOILS. 221 

breaking through it. Heavy clay soils become 
lumpy if plowed when very wet. Sandy soils may 
be plowed at any time, as the grains of sand do 
not stick together. 

Water in the Soil. Most of the water found in 
the soil is held there in two conditions — (1) as free 
water, and (2) as capillary water. Free water is 
that which drains off when good drainage is provid- 
ed. Capillary water is the water that is held hy the 
soil particles, and will not drain off. Capillary wa- 
ter is more useful to the plant than free water, be- 
cause it contains more plant food. Plant roots will 
not grow Avell in free water, as they require air; 
consequently free water prevents plants from be- 
coming deep rooted. 

Capacity of Soils to Retain Capillary Water. 
With reference to their capacity to retain capillary 
water, humus soil ranks highest ; then in order come 
clay, loam, and sand. Humus soil sometimes con- 
tains its own weight of capillary water. This being 
true, well-rotted manure not only adds plant food 
to the soil, but assists in retaining moisture, thus 
decreasing the effects of drouth. 

Uses of Soil. Soil serves as a foothold for 
plants, and also as a storehouse for plant food and 
moisture. 

A Foothold for Plants. Plants send their roots 
into the soil, and, by so doing, are firmly supported. 
The wind may blow against the tall oak tree, but, 
notwithstanding its enormous leverage, the roots are 
so strong and penetrate so deep that they usually 



222 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

keep the tree from being blown over. Even the 
roots of the fine grasses go so deep into the ground 
that it is hard to pull up the grass ; and when enough 
force is applied to extract it, most of the roots break 
off and remain in the ground. 

Food and Water Supply. Another great use of 
the soil is to supply plants with food and water. 
Water, air, and soil supply plants with all things 
necessary for their growth. When a plant is burn- 
ed, a certain amount of ash remains. This ash rep- 
resents, in large part, the food that the plant receiv- 
ed from the soil. The remainder, or that which 
passes off into the air, originally came from the air, 
from the water, or from the humus of the soil. A 
very small portion of the growing plant comes from 
the soil. A large tree, containing several cords of 
wood, grows out of the ground, but takes so little 
substance from the soil that the ground around the 
tree is not lowered in the least to support the grow- 
ing tree. In fact, the large roots penetrating the 
ground often elevate the soil somewhat. While the 
material supplied to the plant from the soil is small 
in amount, it is absolutely necessary. Soil that is 
not rich in plant food will not produce a good crop. 

Water Supply. No matter how rich the soil 
may be in plant food, if it does not have a sufficient 
supply of moisture the crop must suft'er. Plant roots 
cannot absorb food unless it is in solution; hence 
plant food must be dissolved before plants can use 
it. If water is present in too great a quantity, the 
food is too dilute, and the plants may drink in lar^e 



SOILS. 223 

quantities of it, and yet go hungry. It is much the 
same as feeding pigs a quart of meal in- a barrel of 
water. They may drink and drink, and still be hun- 
gry. This is one reason why soil should be drained. 
On the other hand, if the supply of water is not 
great enough for the needs of the plant, the crop 
suffers, not only from a shortage of water, but it 
gets so little water that the food supply is also too 
small. It is easily seen that a soil may be rich in 
plant food, yet, on account of the water supply being 
either too small or too great, the plant may suffer 
from a lack of nourishment. 

Water May Exclude Air. If soil is very wet, 
the water crowds the air away from the roots of the 
plants. Soil in this condition is said to be water 
logged. This injures the plant greatly, as the roots 
of most plants need a supply of air. If the air is 
excluded from the soil, the organic matter decays 
very slowly, and thus the supply of available plant 
food is lessened. The bacteria that change nitrogen 
into the forms in which plants can use it do not 
thrive in a water-logged soil. Well-drained soil, 
whether the drainage is natural or artificial, is bet- 
ter for farm crops than soil that is very wet. 

TILLAGE. 

Implements of Tillage. By tillage we mean 
plowing, cultivating, and other processes of loosen- 
ing the soil. Among the implements of tillage may 
be mentioned the plow, harrow, weeder, cultivator, 
roller, and planker. These are ,all so well known 



224 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

to every farm boy that a description of them is not 
necessary., 

Purpose of Tillage. Among the purposes of till- 
age are the following: To kill the sod on new 
land, to prepare a seed bed, to kill weeds, to conserve 
moisture, to promote movements of soil water, to 
aerate the soil, to change the temperature of soil, to 
increase bacterial action, and to promote chemical 
change. 

To Kill the Sod on New Land. The best time 
of the year to break prairie sod is during the months 
of May and June. The plants are full of sap at that 
season, and quickly decompose if turned under. The 
breaking plow should be run very shallow, because 
the sod dies much more readily when the roots are 
cut short. Three or four months after breaking 
the sod, it should be backset. This is done by plow- 
ing an inch or two deeper than before. The sod is 
now fairly well rotted, and, if harrowed, will break 
up nicely and be left in good condition for a wheat 
crop the following year. If breaking is done in the 
early spring, and an attempt made to grow a crop 
that year, the returns are likely to be poor, because 
the sod is not yet rotted. 

To Prepare a Seed Bed. One of the most im- 
portant duties of the farmer is to prepare the seed 
bed thoroughly before putting in any crop. Usually 
the first thing done in the way of preparation is to 
plow the ground. This is generally the best way 
to prepare the soil, but disking corn ground gives it 
the best preparation for small grains. Care should 



SOILS. 225 

be taken not to plow heavy, clay land when it is 
very wet nor when it is extremely dry. If plowed 
when too wet, it will bake and form clods, and if 
plowed when too dry, it becomes lumpy. Sandy 
soil may be plowed when in almost any condition, 
though it is easier to plow Avhen moist. It is not 
likely to bake. If there is a dry period after land is 
plowed, the furrow slice dries out rapidly. This 
can be prevented in part by harrowing the plowed 
ground, thus making a soil mulch that helps to chock 
evaporation. The furrow slice itself breaks the 
capillarity from beneath, and so checks the loss of 
moisture from the soil beneath. Plowing, when 
done under favorable conditions, leaves the soi] 
loose, fine, and in good condition for the seed. Fall 
plowing is preferred in most districts of the west. 
Among the reasons given are the following: It 
makes it possible to plant earlier in the spring, m.ois- 
ture beneath the furrovv^ slice is conserved, and the 
surface is made rough and porous, and consequently 
takes in more water from the rains and melting 
snows of winter and spring. If the plowing for 
wheat is not done until spring, it must then be fin- 
ished early, in order to get the crop in on time. 

To Kill Weeds. Corn, potatoes, and some other 
crops have to be cultivated to keep down weeds. 
If weeds are allowed to grow with the rows of corn, 
they take plant food and moisture from the soil, 
thus leaving the crop with a diminished supply of 
both food and water. 

To Conserve Moisture. When the surface soil 



226 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

is stirred two or three inches deep with a cultivator 
or harrow, it is j:)ut in a condition which allows it 
to dry out rapidly, but these two or three inches of 
dry top soil keep that which lies beneath from los- 
ing its moisture. Every one has noticed how moist 
the earth usually is beneath a covering of straw 
or leaves. A soil mulch acts in the same way as a 
straw mulch. The earth mulch in the corn or po- 
tato field should not be more than two or three 
inches deep, as the fertility in the soil that forms 
the mulch is placed where the plant cannot get it. 
The cultivator shovels should not be allowed to go 
deep enough to cut the roots of the growing crop. 
During the latter part of the season, corn roots and 
the roots of most other cultivated crops come quite 
near the surface, usually within three inches of the 
top of the ground. 

Saving Soil Moistl^re by Plowing. Plowing 
land in the fall has a very decided influence on the 
per cent, of water which the three or four feet of the 
soil nearest the surface may contain the following 
spring. Professor King has observed an average 
difference of two and one-third per cent, of the total 
water in the upper three feet of land plowed late in 
the fall, as compared with that not plowed, both of 
which were allowed to lie without any form of culti- 
vation until the middle of May, the plots of land in 
all cases lying side by side. The quantity of water in 
the fall-plowed ground exceeded that in the ground 
not plowed by not less than six pounds, or three 
quarts, to the square foot. It was due to two caus- 



SOILS. 227 

es: (1) The loose character of the overturned 
soil, which caused it to act as a mulch in the fall, 
and again in the spring, after the snows had melted 
and disappeared; and (2) to the uneven surface, 
which tended to permit more of the melting snow and 
early spring rains to enter into it. The production 
of large crops depends very largely upon the best 
use of the soil moisture. The earliest possible stir- 
ring of the soil in the spring is a most important 
factor in holding soil moisture. The soil must, of 
course, be allowed to dry out enough to prevent 
puddling. When soil is wet and closely packed, as a 
result of winter snows and rains, the loss of water 
from evaporation is very great. It may be more 
than twenty tons per acre daily, and the loss may 
extend even deeper than four feet. 

Effect of Rolling on Soil Moisture. It was 
once generally believed that the firming of the sur- 
face of the ground with the roller or with the wheels 
of the press drill increased the water content 
of the soil. Firming the surface does, for the time, 
increase the amount of water in the compacted 
portion. When, however, the changes in the wa- 
ter content in the surface four feet of soil, follow- 
ing the use of a heavy roller, are studied, it is found 
that it is another case of the movement of soil mois- 
ture, — a case where, by destroying many large non- 
capillary pores in the soil, and by bringing its grains 
more closely together, its water lifting power is in- 
creased to such an extent that often, within twenty- 
four hours after rolling, the upper one or two feet of 



228 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

the firmed ground will contain more moisture than 
similar adjacent lands do at the same level, while 
the lower two feet have become drier. Water has 
been lifted from the lower into the upper soil. It is 
the means of borrowing water from the third and 
fourth feet for the surface two feet. Firming with 
the roller makes the rate of evaporation greater, not 
only by causing the water to rise to the surface more 
rapidly, but also by making the surface smooth, and 
thus increasing the rate of movement of the air along 
the surface of the soil, which greatly increases evap- 
oration. It is plain, therefore, that when it is de- 
sirable to firm the surface for the purpose of increas- 
ing the amount of water in it, a light harrow should 
follow the roller to restore a thin mulch, wl;ich will 
retain the water brought up by the firming with the 
roller. Unless this is done, only a temporary advan- 
tage is gained. Sometimes, when a heavy rain has 
produced a crust over the soil, the roller leaves a 
partial mulch by powdering or breaking up this dried 
portion. 

To Aerate the Soil. Stirring the soil when it is 
in proper condition always causes air to enter. 
Well-aerated soil supplies the plant roots with air, 
causes humus to decay more rapidly, and increases 
the action of bacteria generally. If the soil is well 
aired, it warms up more rapidly in the spring. 

When Land Shoiild Be Drained. Land should 
be drained when it retains a large amount of free 
water. Sandy land does not often need draining, 
because it is porous and drains naturally. Hilly or 



SOILS. 229 

rolling- land seldom needs artificial surface drainage. 
Low and level land, especially when heavy in tex- 
ture, and in a country where the rainfall is abundant, 
is benefited by drainage. It is generally true that 
free water should not remain closer to the surface 
than from three to five feet. Crops are much more 
likely to suffer from drouth late in the season, when 
free water, or the ''water table," as it is called, 
comes near the surface early in the season. If, when 
the plants begin to grow, the water table is close to 
the surface, the roots grow down only to the free 
water. The roots will not grow far into free water, 
because there is little nourishment in it, and an in- 
sufficient supply of air. If the roots do not grow 
deep, the plant is likely to suffer later in the season 
from a lack of both food and moisture. 

How Land Should Be Drained. Land may be 
drained either by means of tile, or by open ditches. 
The open ditch is much cheaper than tiling; but 
ditches, if near together, are a great nuisance on the 
farm, as they gradually fill up, and must be cleaned 
out, to be serviceable. Tiling, on the other hand, 
is expensive, and, if the soil is a hard clay, the water 
will drain down into the tiling very slowly, as such 
drains are usually several feet beneath the surface, 
and must always be covered with the natural soil of 
the field. 

Deep and Shallow Tile Drainage. The depth 
to which water should be lowered by drainage need 
not ordinarily exceed four feet. There are many 
cases, on springy hillsidesj and on flat areas between 



230 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. - 

natural elevations of ground, where the water is 
maintained within four feet of the surface for only 
a short period in the spring. In cases like these, 
where the water table falls naturally five to seven 
feet below the surface as the season advances, it is 
only necessary to secure drainage of the surface 
eighteen inches, in which the plant may begin 
growth. The best distance between underdrains 
varies with the closeness of the soil texture and the 
depth at which they are laid. Since the water table 
rises as the distance from the outlet increases, it is 
plain that, midway between the lines of tile, the 
ground water approaches nearer the surface, and, the 
further the drains are apart, the nearer it will ap- 
proach the top of the ground. 

Surface Drainage. Where very fine-textured 
soil occurs in extensive flat fields, it is usually de- 
sirable to adopt some form of surface drainage. 
Some of the compact clay soils are so impervious to 
water that it is useless to lay drains deep in them, 
even when the lines of tile are close together. Drain- 
age into them is too slow to be of much value. In 
all such cases, and where drainage must be accom- 
plished before the soil has thawed to much depth, a 
system of surface drainage should be adopted. This 
is done by throwing up road grades on the division 
lines, plowing fields into narrow lands, and by leav- 
ing dead furrows in the direction of the slope. With 
very sluggish drainage it may be necessary to con- 
nect these furrows with cross ditches, and again it 
may be necessary to make wide, deep, open ditches 



SOILS. 231 

through the fields. In all these cases, both for the 
wide-open ditches and those along grades, it will be 
well to smooth the banks and make them sloping, so 
they can be crossed by machinery and be cultivated 
across to prevent weeds growing in them. Depres- 
sions, or low places surrounded by higher land, oc- 
cur where neither tile nor surface drainage will 
prove successful. Often in such cases the water is 
held by a pan of clay, which has been made by wash- 
ing, while under this pan the soil is open,. and capable 
of carrying away the water. When this is true, and 
the area which drains into it is not too large, it 
may be drained by boring or digging through the 
clay in one or more places, m.aking openings for the 
water to escape downward. These well holes may 
be kept open ; or, if one does not wish to leave them 
open, they may be filled with coarse stone or gravel, 
and remain very effective. When the clay is too 
deep to permit of draining in this way, and where 
•the amount of water is not too large, the same result 
may be obtained by sinking a well or reservoir in 
the lowest place, into which the drains lead from 
various directions. The water can then be lifted by 
wind or other power, and used to irrigate other por- 
tions of the field. 

Cost and Arrangement of Underdraining. Sev- 
eral forms of underdrains have been tried, but only 
tile drains have proved satisfactory. A mole or 
blind ditch can be made by drawing a blunt instru- 
ment through the ground to the depth of two or more 
feet. Another form of underdrain is made by filling 



232 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

an open ditch with brush or stones, and covering 
with earth. Drains of this class last longer than the 
mole ditch, but are apt to clog up ; and when brush 
is used it will finally rot and let the dirt cave in, 
stopping up the opening of the drain. When tile 
drains are user], they should be given a fall of not 
less than two inches per each one hundred feet, and 
a greater fall is better. A fall of as little as an inch 
to a hundred feet will Avork if the tile is laid on a 
true grade, but the expense of laying tile so care- 
fully as is required in that case is very great. Where 
a continuous series of tile drains is used, the cost is 
very high. In one case, which Professor King gives 
as an example, the system cost $11.43 per acre. This 
was an Illinois farm, and the cost included tile, lay- 
ing, ditching, and all contingent expenses. AA^hen 
it is a matter of draining seepy places, as in side 
hills, or a few wet spots in the land, the cost is 
smaller. It is seldom advisable to use tile smaller 
than three inches in diameter. In laying tile, care* 
should be taken to have the grade nearly uniform, 
for when a line of tile has high and low places, whose 
difference is greater than the diameter of the tile, silt 
and mud will gather in the low places, close the 
drain, and render it useless. Trees should not be al- 
lowed to grow near a line of tile. They should be 
at least fifty feet from it; or, if trees must grow 
close to it, make a wooden box for the tile, to keep 
out the roots. Cover the opening or outlet of the tile 
with a screen, to keep out mice, rats, or other ani- 



SOILS. 233 

iiials, as they are apt to clog the passage with their 
nests or skeletons. 

Irrigation — When Practicable. Generally speak- 
ing, irrigation pays only where the rainfall is fre- 
quently deficient. If enough rain falls during the 
growing season to supply the crops with moisture, 
every "effort should be put forth to see that the land 
is drained during the early season, so the roots will 
go deep ; and a surface mulch should be kept, where 
practicable, to prevent evaporation from the surface. 
If the crop is likely to suffer for lack of moisture 
during only a part of the season, it may pay to irri- 
gate, if the expense is not too great. It is generally 
practicable to irrigate when water can be obtained 
easily. The cheapest way to irrigate is to flood the 
land by damming up a stream of water, or by leading 
a stream of water through open ditches onto the 
farm. If the land is quite level, and the supply of 
water large and convenient, this method of irrigation 
costs very little. If the land is hilly or very rolling, 
irrigation will be more difficult. Another way to 
irrigate is to get a supply of water from an artesian 
well. This cannot be done except in an artesian 
district, and even then the water is sometimes so 
full of alkali that it is useless for irrigation pur- 
poses. Water may be lifted from a stream, in some 
cases, by means of a hydraulic ram. This is quite 
a cheap way to irrigate, as the force of the flowing 
water is used to lift the water for irrigation pur- 
poses. Water wheels, windmills, steam engines, and 



234 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

gasoline engines are all used to supply power to 
pump water for purposes of irrigation. 

Amount of Water Used by Crops. Professor 
King states that in his experiments the following 
amounts in tons of water to the ton of dry matter 
were lost by evaporation from the growing plant and 
the soil: 

Dent corn used 309.8 tons, equal to 2.64 inches of water 

per ton of dry matter. 
Flint corn used 233.9 tons, equal to 2.14 inches of water 

per ton of dry matter. 
Barley used 592.9 tons, equal to 3.43 inches of water per 

ton of dry matter. 
Oats used 522.4 tons, equal to 4.76 inches of water per ton 

of dry matter. 

These amounts of water are needed to make 
good the rapid evaporation from the soil, and force 
the great surface exposure of the plant foliage. 
This evaporation is needed for the physiological or 
circulatory processes in the plant, which demand a 
large movement of water through the growing tis- 
sues. There are few countries where the distribu- 
tion of the rainfall in time and amount is such as 
will permit fertile soils to produce the largest crops 
they are able to bear. This being true, the soils that 
can store the largest quantity of rain and other mois- 
ture, so that the plants can use it to the best ad- 
vantage, are likely to be the most productive. On 
this account, the water-holding capacity of soils is a 
very important factor in determining their value. 

Value of Irrigated Lands. Irrigated lands, 
when the soil is rich, level, easily irrigated, and 
easily drained, are very valuable. Under such cir- 



SOILS. 235 

cumstances, the growing crop need never have too 
much water nor too little to produce a maximum 
crop. With such conditions, the dryer the climate 
the better, because the crops can be much better 
cared for in dry than in wet weather, and their sup- 
ply of water can be more nearly controlled. 

Alkali Soils. Alkali soils are usually rich from 
the chemical standpoint. The trouble with them is 
that they contain an excess of soluble salts. These 
salts are sometimes alkaline, but any soil containing 
an excess of soluble salts is called an alkali soil. 
The alkali can sometimes be removed by good drain- 
age. Where it is impossible to improve the drain- 
age, it m.ay be possible to remove the alkali gradual- 
ly by producing and removing crops that will grow 
on alkali soils. If the amount of alkali in the soil is 
very great, it may be impossible to get rid of it. 



CHAPTER XXX. 



EXERCISES. 



. EXERCISE 1. 

Purpose. To study the root system of Indian 
corn. 

Apparatus. A few kernels of corn and a small 
flower pot filled with moist soil. If weather condi- 
tions are right, this experiment may be performed 
out of doors, in which case, flower pots Avill not be 
needed. 

Directions. In the flower pot, plant about six 
kernels of corn at a depth of two inches. Keep the 
flower pot in a warm place, and water the soil often 
to keep it moist. At the end of five days, dig up 
one of the kernels. Has it sprouted? Which end 
of the germ extends toward the tip of the kernel? 
How does the kernel taste as compared with a kernel 
that has not sprouted ? Keep observations in a note 
book. Three days later dig up another kernel. 
What is the color of the roots? How many roots 
has the young plant? What is the color of that 
portion of the stem which is beneath the surface of 
the soil? Above the surface? By this time all the 
young plants will probably have reached the surface 
of the soil. Now wait a week before digging up the 
next plant. Has it a tap root? How long are the 
roots? How tall is the plant? What do you sup- 



EXERCISES. 237 

pose made the roots grow down into the soil? 
What made the stem grow up into the air ? What is 
the condition of the kernel from which the young 
plant grew? Dig up one plant each week until all 
are removed, and make similar observations. 

EXERCISE 2. 

Purpose. To study the root growth of several 
plants. 

Apparatus. Seeds of clover, wheat, alfalfa, 
oats, and barley. 

Directions. Plant several seeds of each kind, 
and note which send out tap roots. 

EXERCISE 3. 

Purpose. To determine which gives the 
strongest growth, the butt, center, or tip kernels of 
corn. 

Apparatus. Kernels of corn from the butt, cen- 
ter, and tip of the ear, respectively. The rest of 
the apparatus may be the same as in Experiment 1. 

Directions. Plant butt, center, and tip kernels 
of corn. Give all the same care, and note results at 
regular intervals. 

EXERCISE 4. 

.Purpose. To test the percentage of germination 
in seeds. 

Apparatus. A plate, a small quantity of sand, 
a sheet of paper, and seeds of various kinds. 

Directions. Cover the bottom of the plate with 



238 



ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 



sand to a depth of about one and one-half inches. 
Moisten the sand thoroughly, and plant the seeds in 
it. Cover the sand with a sheet of paper to decrease 







A 


m 


B| Ti 


w 



'strong'.'" "medium," "weak. 



Fig-. 78. Seed Germinator. A 
simple method of constructing 
a seed germinator as used in 
the testing of wheat and 
other farm' seeds. It is sim- 
ply a deep pie plate partly 
filled with pure sand, the 
sand covered by a circle of un- 
glazed paper. Water enough 
is added to saturate the pa- 
per and the sand. The seeds 
are counted out in hundreds 
and laid on top of the paper; 
then the pan is covered by 
an ordinary tin pot lid to keep 
in the moisture until the seeds 
are germinated, when they 
may be counted out as 
'dead," etc. 



evaporation. In about a week determine the per- 
centage of germination. 



EXERCISE 5. 



Piirpose. To learn the use of that portion of 
the kernel which is packed about the germ. 

Apparatus. Ten kernels of corn and a small 
flower pot filled with moist sand. 

Directions. From five kernels cut away all or 
nearly all the portion surrounding the germ. Now 
plant all ten kernels, and notice which five give the 
stronger growth. Why plant plump seed? Why 
choose large seed? Why plant small seeds shallow? 



EXERCISES. 239 

EXERCISE 6. 

Purpose. To learn that plants transmit water 
through their stems. 

Apparatus. A green stalk of corn, a basin of 
water, and a little red ink. 

Directions. Color the water in the basin by 
adding a few drops of red ink. Stand the corn 
stalk in the basin of water, and note how rapidly the 
colored water rises in the stalk. What causes the 
water to rise in the stalk? Why do plants absorb 
water ? 

EXERCISE 7. 

Purpose. To show that seeds should be kept 
dry while stored during the winter. 

Apparatus. Ten kernels of dry seed corn. 

Directions. This experiment must be performed 
during freezing weather. Soak half the kernels in 
water for three hours, and place all out of doors un- 
til thoroughly frozen. Plant and note which give 
the higher percentage of germination. 

EXERCISE 8. 

Purpose. To determine what percentage of an 
ear of corn is kernel, and what percentage is cob. 

Apparatus. Several ears of corn. 

Directioms. After weighing an ear of corn, 
shell it and weigh the cob. What percentage of the 
ear is kernel? What percentage is cob? 



240 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

EXERCISE 9. 

Purpose. To find out if shrunken wheat will 
germinate. 

Apparatus. Several kernels of shrunken wheat, 
and several kernels of plump wheat. 

Directions. Plant kernels of shrunken wheat 
and kernels of plump wheat side by side. Note re- 
sults. Which came up first? Which gave the 
stronger growth? 

EXERCISE 10. 

Purpose. To determine the effect of age on 
germination. 

Apparatus. Kernels of wheat several years old 
and of known age. 

Directions. Plant one hundred kernels. How 
many germinated? What per cent, germinated? 

EXERCISE 11. 

Purpose. To study the effect of darkness on 
plant growth. 

Apparatus. Kernels of corn, a flower pot con- 
taining soil, and a fair sized box. 

Directions. Plant several kernels of corn in the 
flower pot. About the time the corn is coming up, 
cover the flower pot with the box. This can be done 
by inverting the box over the flower pot. The box 
may be dispensed with if there is other means of 
keeping the growing plant in darkness. Examine 
the plant occasionally. What is the color of the 
leaves? What is their natural color? 



EXERCISES. 241 

EXERCISE 12. 

Purpose. To study the effect of depth of plant- 
ing. 

Apparatus. Various kinds of seeds. 

Directions. Plant the same kind of seed, one, 
two, three, four, five, and six inches deep. Observe 
results. Did all of them grow? Which came up 
first? Which gave the most vigorous growth? 

EXERCISE 13. 

Purpose. To study the effect of lack of mois- 
ture on plant growth. 

Apparatus. Two flower pots full of moist soil, 
and several kernels of grain. 

Directions. Plant about ten kernels of grain in 
each flower pot. Water the grain in one of the pots 
frequently, but give the grain in the other no water. 
Note the condition of the plants at the end of two 
weeks ; at the end of four weeks ; at the end of six 
wrecks. 

EXERCISE 14. 

Purpose. To study the effect of cold on plant 
growth. 

Apparatus. Two rapidly growing plants of 
about the same size, and of the same variety. 

Directions. Keep one of the plants at room 
temperature, and keep the other at a temperature 
close to freezing. Which makes the more rapid 
growth ? 



242 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

EXERCISE 15. 

Purpose. To determine approximately the num- 
ber of kernels in several kinds of grain. 

Apparatus. Heads of wheat, oats, barley, rye, 
and spelt. 

Directions. Count and record the number of 
kernels found in each head. 

EXERCISE 16. 

Purpose. To learn to recognize the heads of 
fife and blue stem wheat. 

Apparatus. Heads of fife and blue stem. 

Directions. Note any points of difference. Is 
either variety bearded? Which has a velvet chaff? 

EXERCISE 17. 

Purpose. To learn to make the Babcock test. 

Apparatus. For description of the apparatus 
and directions for performing the experiment, see 
text (pp. 176, 177). What is the acid used for? What 
would be the effect of using more acid? Of using 
less acid? 

EXERCISE 18. 

Purpose. To show that unclean milk cans cause 
milk to sour. 

Apparatus. Two bottles, a small quantity of 
sour milk, and a larger quantity of new milk. 

Directions. At the beginning of the experiment 
have both bottles clean. Rinse one with sour milk. 
Now fill both bottles with new milk and let stand in 



EXERCISES. 243 

a Avarm room for twenty-four hours. Taste, to de- 
termine which is the more sour. Note which is first 
to become lobbered. 

EXERCISE 19. 

Purpose. To determine the effect a soil mulch 
has on soil moisture. 

Apparatus. Two glazed earthenware jars, each 
filled with the same quality of moist soil, preferably 
sand. 

Directions. Pack the soil to the same firmness 
in each jar, and stir daily the surface one inch in 
one of them. At the end of two weeks observe the 
condition of the soil in each at a depth of two or 
three inches. 

EXERCISE 20. 

Purpose. To learn that water rises in soil due 
to capillary action. 

Apparatus. Sand, and a basin containing a 
small amount of water. 

Directions. Pile up the sand in the middle of 
the basin, and observe how rapidly the water rises 
in the sand. 

EXERCISE 21. 

Purpose. To determine the amount of water in 
the soil. 

Apparatus. Spring balances, a smaM tin pail, 
and moist soil. 

Directions. Weigh the pail, partly fill it with 
moist soil, weigh again, and set in the sun for several 



244 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

hours. AVlien the soil seems to be quite dry, weigh, 
and* determine the loss of moisture. Set the pail 
in the sun again, and weigh occasionally until the 
soil reaches constant weight. The percentage of 
moisture is determined by dividing the loss due to 
evaporation by the dry weight of the soil. What is 
the percentage of moisture in the sample tested? 
To determine accurately the amount of moisture in 
soil, the soil should be dried at the boiling tempera- 
ture. 

EXERCISE 22. 

Purpose. To determine the amount of humus 
in soil. 

Apparatus. A small quantity of dry soil, an 
iron spoon, a bed of coals in a stove, a stove poker, 
a wire, and spring balances. 

Directions. Tie the spoon to the poker with the 
wire, fill it with dry weighed soil, and place it on 
the bed of coals. After the organic matter has been 
burned out, weigh the soil again. From the loss of 
weight determine the percentage of humus in the 
soil. To be at all accurate, the experiment must be 
continued until the soil is burned to a constant 
weight. 

EXERCISE 2.3. 

Purpose. To determine the water-holding 
capacity of soil. 

Apparatus. A quart measure and a quantity of 
dry soil. 

Directions. Fill the measure with dry soil, and 



EXERCISES. 245 

determine how much water can be added. Place 
the measure in position, so that the water can drain 
off, and determine how much remains. The water 
remaining in the soil after thorough drainage is 
known as capillary water. 

EXERCISE 24. 

Purpose. To study the effect of a lack of fer- 
tility in the soil. 

Apparatus. Two flower pots, sand, rich soil, 
and kernels of grain. 

Directions. Plant seeds in sand and in rich 
soil, and observe which gives the stronger growth 
during a period of six weeks. 

EXERCISE 25. 

Purpose. To show the value of drainage. 

Apparatus. Plants growing in flower pots. 

Directions. Keep the soil in one of the flower 
pots constantly flooded, and keep the soil in the other 
moist. What is the effect of an excess of water? 



246 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 



1. Long Splice. 

2. Figure Eight Knot. 

3. Simple Overhand Knot. 

4. Single Bow Knot." 

5. Granny's Knot. 

6. Clove Hitch. 

7. Butcher's Hitch. 

8. Short Splice. 

9. Square or Reef Knot. 

10. Wall Knot. 

11. Weaver's Knot. 

12. Bow Line on a Bight. 

13. Cat's Paw. 

14. Bow Line Knot. 

15. Timber Hitch. 

16. Blackwall Hitch. 

17. Sheep Shank. 

18. Wall Knot — With Crown. 

19. End Splice. 






// 



^°.^r>^ Detailed Explanation of the Way to Tie These Knots ^pp 
t^'uraf College, ^^^^^"^t-^^'" ^^^--d by the Mlnnes''o"a''A|rT- 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

COKN-GROWING CONTESTS. 

During the summer of 1904, the pupils in the 
public schools of Traill county, under the leadership 
of Supt. Hetler, carried on the first corn-growing 
contest that has been held in this state. On account 
of the success of this experiment, seven counties in 
North Dakota are holding pupils' corn-growing con- 
tests this year (1905). Rules similar to those given 
below may be used to govern these contests. 

1. All pupils regularly enrolled in the common schools 
are eligible to take part in the contest. 

2. No seed shall be used except that furnished by 
the county superintendent. 

3. Four kernels must be planted in each hill. 

4. The hills must be approximately three and a half 
feet apart each way. 

5. One hundred hills must be planted in the form of 
a square, making the plot ten hills on a side. 

6. The seed remaining is to be planted on the south, 
west, and north of the plot to protect and fertilize the 
corn growing on the plot. 

7. The corn is to receive careful cultivation, all such 
work to be done by or under the direction of the pupil 
taking part in the contest. 

8. Ten ears are to be selected from those grown 



CORN-GROWING CONTESTS. 249 

on the plot, and exhibited at the time and place designated 
by the county superintendent. 

9. A careful record is to be kept of the experiment. 
This record shall include the date of plowing, time and 
manner of planting, frequency of cultivation, etc. 

10. Each student taking part in the contest is to 
write an accouiit of not less than three hundred words, 
telling about the experiment. 

11. The corn is to be judged according to the score 
card used at the North Dakota Agricultural College. 



/ 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



LEGAL WEIGHTS. 



What constitutes a bushel in North Dakota. 
Approved by the governor of North Dakota, March 
4, 1903. 



Barley, 48 lbs. 
Beans, 60 lbs. 
Bran, 20 lbs. 
Buckwheat, 42 lbs. 
Beets, 60 lbs. 
Broom-corn seed, 30 lbs. 
Corn (shelled), 56 lbs. 
Corn (in ear), 70 lbs. 
Coal (stone), 80 lbs. 
Flaxseed, 56 lbs. 
Lime, 80 lbs. 
Oats, 32 lbs. 
Onions, 52 lbs. 



Potatoes (Irish), 60 lbs. 
Potatoes (Sweet), 46 lbs. 
Peas, 60 lbs. 
Rye, 56 lbs. 
Salt, 80 lbs. 
Turnips, 60 lbs. 
Timothy Seed, 45 lbs. 
Wheat, 60 lbs. 
Millet, 50 lbs. 
Apples, 50 lbs. 
Bromus Inermis, 14 lbs. 
Spelt, 40 lbs. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 

Since the plan of preparing a manual of agricul- 
ture for the use of the public schools of North Da- 
kota was "first conceived, President J. H. Worst has 
regularly aided in the consummation of the work 
by helping to outline the plan and scope of a volume 
designed to meet the requirements. It would be im- 
possible to come into contact with so enthusiastic a 
friend of agricultural education without receiving 
many helpful impulses, which are absorbed and in 
this case have become a corporate part of the written 
page. 

The authors are indebted to Professor E. F. 
Ladd for numerous suggestions relative to the plan 
and detailed arrangement of the book, and for a 
hearty moral support in every feature pei'taining to 
the publication. 

Professor C. B. Waldron furnished the material 
incorporated in the chapters given upon Home and 
School Grounds, Injurious Insects, and Fruit Cul- 
ture. 

For the sake of a goodly degree of unity in the 
plan of presenting the different subjects, it has been 
necessary to clothe the articles furnished by our co- 
laborers in language which will harmonize in out- 



252 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

line and general form of composition with other 
features of the book. 

Professor H. L. Bolley aided the writers by sup- 
plying material upon the subjects treating of potato 
scab, wheat smut, and flax wilt, in addition to the 
discussion upon the nature of the cereal rusts. 

Superintendent L. R. Waldron aided by furnish- 
ing us with carefully prepared matter upon Weeds 
and Bird Life. 

Our colaborers in the agricultural division of 
this institution have helped in the preparation of 
the material in a very effective manner. 

Professor AV. B. Richards aided most cordially 
in the preparation of the chajjter upon Horses, and 
served us by securing the animal photographs from 
w^hich engravings have been made. 

Professor 0. 0. Churchill rendered us especially 
valuable aid by taking photographs used in the prep- 
aration of the illustrations appearing in the fore- 
going pages, and by making criticisms and sugges- 
tions relative to the articles presented upon the vari- 
ous farm crops. 

Mr. Nicholaus Grest furnished the matter which 
formed the basis of the discussion upon Road Con- 
struction and the Care of Farm Machinery, while 
Mr. Oliver Dynes rendered effective aid in the prep- 
aration of the chapter upon Poultry. The support 
and encouragement which the writers have received 
from all members of the faculty and station staff of 
the North Dakota Agricultural College and Experi- 



ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 253 

nient Station during the preparation of tliis volume, 
deserve special mention and recognition. 

An association w^itli the veteran agricultural edi- 
tor — Orange Judd — as a member of his editorial 
staff, gave the w^riters a familiarity with successful 
methods of presenting scientific facts in an elemen- 
tary form which has been of great service to us in 
the preparation of this publication. Editor M. F. 
Greeley, of the Dakota Farmer, who has given the 
subject of public school agriculture much thought, 
has materially aided and encouraged the writers 
with suggestions and advice relative to the subject- 
matter presented in the foregoing pages. It is a 
pleasure to acknowledge our indebtedness to these 
men, who have devoted their lives to writing agri- 
cultural truths in an elementary and attractive form 
for the masses engaged in the occupation of farm- 
ing. 

It is impossible for the writers to know how 
much to credit the incentives received from con- 
tact — in the position of students in agriculture — 
with Secretary James Wilson and Dean C. F. Cur- 
tiss, at the Iowa Agricultural College, how much the 
enthusiasm of Assistant Secretary Hays inspired us 
w^hile sitting in his classes in the College of Agricul- 
ture of Minnesota; neither can we assign the part 
which should be credited to Dean W. A. Henry, to 
Dr. S. M. Babcock, to Dean John A. Craig, now of 
the Texas College of Agriculture, and to Dean W. 
L. Carlyle, of the Colorado Agricultural College, as 
the result of a daily contact Avitli them in the classes 



254 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. 

of the agricultural department of the University of 
Wisconsin. That an intimate association with such 
eminent authorities upon the subject of agriculture 
cannot fail to enkindle the flames of ambition and a 
love for the calling, and add to the resources of their 
students, none will question, and the authors take 
this occasion to make due acknowledgment of the 
fundamental way in which these gentlemen have had 
a part in the production of this book. 

J. H. SHEPPERD. 

J. c. Mcdowell. 



JUL 17 1905» 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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